Sample records for emirate united arab

This discussion of the UnitedArabEmirates focuses on the following: the people; geography; history; government; political conditions; defense; the economy; foreign relations; and relations between the US and the UnitedArabEmirates. In 1983 the population was estimated at 1,194,000. In 1984 the annual growth rate was negative. Life expectancy is about 60 years. Fewer than 20% of the population are UAE citizens. Indigenous Emiris are Arab; the rest of the population includes significant numbers of other Arabs -- Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Yemenis, Omanis, as well as many Iranians, Pakistanis, Indians, and West Europeans, especially in Dubai. The UAE is in the eastern Arabian Peninsula, bounded on the north by the Persian Gulf. European and Arab pirates roamed the Trucial Coast area from the 17th century into the 19th century. Early British expeditions against the pirates led to further campaigns against their headquarters. Piracy continued intermittently until 1835, when the shaikhs agreed not to engage in hostilities at sea. Primarily in reaction to the ambitions of other European countries, the UK and the Trucial States established closer bonds in an 1892 treaty. In 1968 the British government announced its decision, reaffirmed in March 1971, to end the treaty relationship with the gulf shaikhdoms. When the British protective treaty with the Trucial Shaikhdoms ended on December 1, they became fully independent. On December 2, 1971, 6 of them entered into a union called the UnitedArabEmirates. The 7th, Ras al-Khaimah, joined in early 1972. Administratively, the UAE is a loose federation of 7 emirates, each with its own ruler. The pace at which local government in each emirate is evolving, from traditional to modern, is set primarily by the ruler. Under the provisional constitution of 1971, each emirate reserves considerable powers, including control over mineral rights, taxation, and police powers. In this milieu, the growth of federal powers has

The purpose of the thesis was to introduce internationalization of an SME including motives and risks of new market entry, as well as describing the steps of a target market selection and presenting different operational modes. Since the executive company, DesignShopOutlet, was interested in exploring their market possibilities in the UnitedArabEmirates, the aim of the thesis was also to conduct a market research report of the UnitedArabEmirates. The study applied a qualitative resea...

During the last two months, CERN played host to more than a hundred young physicists who attended the summer student programme. However, the difference in culture has been more pronounced for some than others: among this year's attendees have been five female theoretical physics and medical physics students from the UnitedArabEmirates.

This staff report on UnitedArabEmirates 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights economic policies and development. Against a backdrop of political stability, confidence has further increased, tourism has been firm, demand from expatriates from the broader region has increased, and capital inflows have strengthened amid high global liquidity. The real estate sector, which had been impaired since the 2009 crisis, has stabilized in Abu Dhabi and has started to recover in Dubai. Dubai aims to b...

These are the official statistics, but the actual figure is probably much higher. Increasingly, they are headed for the rich oil-producing countries of the Middle East, such as the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The Emirates have a history of gender segregation and tribalism that now coexists with modernism and consumerism.

We aimed to study the anatomical distribution, severity and outcome of hospitalised interpersonal violence-related injured patients in Al-Ain, UnitedArabEmirates so as to give recommendations regarding the magnitude of this problem, its causes and priorities of prevention. Data were retrieved from Al-Ain Hospital Trauma Registry, which was prospectively collected over three years. There were 75 patients (males = 85.3%) having a mean age of 30 years. Eighty-one percent had blunt trauma. The estimated annual injury hospitalisation of interpersonal violence in Al-Ain city was 6.7 per 100,000 population. Females were significantly more injured by a family member (p = 0.02), at home (p = 0.005), and had more severe injuries (p = 0.003). There was a trend for children less than 18 years old to have more penetrating trauma (p = 0.06) and to be injured by a family member (p = 0.09). There was only one case of woman sexual assault and two cases of child abuse. The mean (SD) hospital stay was 7.87 (14.1) days. Less than 3% (n = 2) were admitted to the intensive care unit with no deaths. In conclusion, the majority of patients in our study had minor injuries. Nevertheless, the psychological impact may be major. This highlights the need to develop suitable mental health services in support of victims of interpersonal violence.

Studies have shown that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the Middle East have delayed diagnosis and low disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) utilization. We describe the characteristics and treatments of consecutive RA patients presenting to a new musculoskeletal clinic in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Demographic and clinical data were collected over a 10-month period at the first visit to our clinic for patients meeting the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for RA. A total of 100 patients were seen: (average +/- SD) age 42.2 +/- 12.3 years; female 87%; Arabs 38%, Indian 36%, Caucasian and others 26%; 73% rheumatoid-factor positive; years since diagnosis: 3.9 +/- 5.7; lag time between symptom onset to diagnosis 1.2 +/- 1.3 years and lag time to first DMARD was 1.6 +/- 2.0 years. Mean tender joint count was 8.9 +/- 7.9, mean swollen joint count 9.0 +/- 7.6, mean patient's global assessment of disease activity 57.4 +/- 25.0 mm, mean ESR 33 +/- 25 mm/h, mean DAS28 5.2 +/- 1.6, physician global assessment 55.0 +/- 23.8. Only 43% were on DMARDs (25% MTX, 5% TNF blockers). Among the patients who were not on DMARD, only 28.1% had disease duration less than 1 year (p = <0.01). Erosions were present in 55.2% of patients with available X-rays, and deformities in 26% of patients. There were no racial differences in disease characteristics. The UAE has a unique population with many races residing in the country. Among the first 100 consecutive patients seen at our clinic, there were no significant differences in disease characteristics with the majority of the patients having very active disease, delayed diagnosis, and not being treated with DMARDs.

... Film, Sheet, and Strip From the UnitedArabEmirates; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty... film, sheet, and strip (PET Film) from the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The period of review (POR) is... Administrative Review: Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip from the UnitedArabEmirates...

... Film, Sheet, and Strip From the UnitedArabEmirates; Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty... UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The period of review (POR) is November 1, 2010, through October 31, 2011. The... Strip from Brazil, the People's Republic of China and the UnitedArabEmirates: Antidumping Duty Orders...

... the UnitedArabEmirates Determination On the basis of the record \\1\\ developed in the subject... is materially injured by reason of imports from the UnitedArabEmirates of certain steel nails... of certain steel nails from the UnitedArabEmirates were being sold at LTFV within the meaning of...

Landing site and market surveys of sharks landed along the Arabian Gulf coast of the UnitedArabEmirates were undertaken between October 2010 and September 2012 to obtain biological data from this artisanal fishery. Data were collected on the size and sex of 12 482 individuals representing 30 species. Maximum ...

Quality in higher education is the major concern among researchers. Managing quality in higher education in a multicultural population with different approaches is not only challenging but an uphill task. This paper will focus on quality concern in higher education keeping in view, the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) perspectives. A model to maintain…

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... From the UnitedArabEmirates AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission. ACTION: Institution... United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of imports from The UnitedArabEmirates of...

This research paper identifies and explores the challenges and barriers that Arab women in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) face in their careers. Primary data was collected via an interview process involving 12 Arab women who reside and work in senior decision making positions in the UAE. Taking into account an overview of the global and UAE-specific challenges faced by women in the workplace and considering the significant efforts of the UAE government to promote women in leadership, as repor...

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the use of Honey and Mumford's (1986) learning styles questionnaire (LSQ) in the context of UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) higher education. In particular, it aims at exploring the learning style preferences of UnitedArabEmirates University (UAEU) students using LSQ. It also investigates whether there…

Cancer is recognized to be a major healthcare problem globally. Cancer is a disease that mainly occurs when alterations in a normal cell group within the body leads to uncontrolled growth, mainly causing a lump referred to as a tumor. The aim of this study is to systematically review and extract studies reporting the risk factors of cancer in UAE between 2007 and 2016. A systematic literature search was performed by using "PubMed, Scopus databases, Science direct, and local journals" and appropriate key terms to retrieve studies carried out in UnitedArabEmirates with regards to risk factors of the cancer. 75 articles were extracted in the beginning. After screening for exclusion criteria and retrieval of full texts, overall 16 articles were used in this study. Search limits were restricted to studies in English language, between 2007 and 2016, and on UAE population (both citizens and expatriates). This review yielded 16 studies about the cancer risk factors in UnitedArabEmirates, including cross sectional studies (n = 9), population-based crosssectional retrospective survey (n = 1), retrospective cohort studies (n = 4) and qualitative studies (n = 2). Tobacco use, unhealthy diet, family history, infection with HPV, physical activity, and radiation exposure were among the factors investigated. There was insufficient evidence available on some potentially essential risk factors such as use of alcohol, aging, and being overweight. This systematic review signifies an increasing cancer prevalence in the UnitedArabEmirates and suggests that extra effort is needed with a multi-sectorial approach in future at both the national and international level to effectively tackle the burden of cancer.

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... Film, Sheet, and Strip From the UnitedArabEmirates: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative...) from the UnitedArabEmirates. This review covers two producers/ exporters of subject merchandise: JBF... Polyethylene Terephthalate Film, Sheet, and Strip From the UnitedArabEmirates: Preliminary Results of...

...)] Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From India, Oman, the UnitedArabEmirates, and Vietnam...-fair-value imports from India, Oman, the UnitedArabEmirates, and Vietnam of circular welded carbon... respect to circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe from Oman and the UnitedArabEmirates being sold in...

Full text of publication follows: The main goal of the study was to estimate effective patient doses from the 6 most common CT examinations for different types of CT scanners within the UnitedArabEmirates. The results were used to assess future trends in patient CT doses following rapid replacement of axial and single-slice spiral scanners by multi-slice scanners. At present all three types of scanner technology exist: axial, spiral and multi-slice with axial scanners being gradually replaced by multi-slice scanners as the medical infrastructure of the country is modernized. Altogether there are more than 30 CT scanners in the country with a population of 4 million. Out of these 11 scanners are 16-slice models with tube-current modulation system. The majority of larger UnitedArabEmirates hospitals have at least two CT scanners: a single slice and 4 or 16-slice scanner. The survey was carried out with data collection forms distributed to the majority of CT scanner users in the UnitedArabEmirates hospitals, both private and government. Effective doses for different examinations were calculated from T.L.D. measurements using an Alderson Rando phantom simulating an average size patient. Our results show that effective doses to patients initially increased with the introduction of 4-slice scanners. Multi-slice scanners with 16 and more slices have tube-current modulation system as a standard. It is routinely used by radiographers in almost all examinations resulting in patient dose reduction up to 40 % in certain examinations. Another factor affecting population dose is the increased number of patients examined using multi-slice scanners. In the UnitedArabEmirates there was an increase of more than 30 % in the annual number of patients examined using multi-slice scanners in comparison to single-slice scanners. This fact is attributed to the ease and speed of operation of multi-slice scanners. Rapid increase in number of CT examinations is of concern. Medical

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) is a federation of seven autonomous emirates that follow different economic models. There is a process for quality assurance at the federal level, however, each emirate takes its own approach to assure the quality of its institutions. This has resulted in different procedures and varying levels of oversight and…

Over the past 2 decades, the discipline of anthropology has been deeply concerned with the processes and effects of globalization around the world. One of the major anthropological theorists of globalization, Arjun Appadurai, has delineated a "global cultural economy" in which global movements operate through 5 pathways, which he famously called "scapes." This article uses the language of "scapes" to examine the global flows involved in so-called "reproductive tourism," or the search for assisted reproductive technologies across national and international borders. Reproductive tourism entails a complex "reproscape" of moving people, technologies, finance, media, ideas, and gametes, pursued by infertile couples in their "quests for conception." This article examines reproductive tourism to and from the UnitedArabEmirates, which is now the site of intense globalization and global flows, including individual and population movements for the purposes of reproductive and other forms of medical care.

To investigate the rate of infection caused by Torque teno virus (TTV) in UnitedArabEmirates (UAEs) healthy population as a pilot study in detecting TTV DNA in 100 healthy blood donors. We randomly choose a total of 100 healthy blood donors who attended Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi, UAE from January 20 to May 30, 2005. We carried out a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to detect TTV DNA. Real-time for TTV was positive in 75 (75%) donors. Eight (73%) non-UAE donors were TTV positive while 67 (75%) were UAEs. Among these donors, 72 (77%) were males and 3 (50%) were females. Our results demonstrated a high prevalence of TTV in UAE. (author)

Full Text Available The UnitedArabEmirates is experiencing a challenging turn towards sustainable social housing. Conventional neighborhood planning and design principles are being replaced by those leading to more sustainable urban forms. To trace this challenging move, the research has investigated the degree of consideration of sustainable urban design principles in two social housing neighborhoods in Al Ain City in Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE. The first represents a conventional urban form based on the neighborhood theory; the other represents the new sustainable design. The ultimate aim is to define the obstacles hindering the full achievement of a sustainable urban form in this housing type. To undertake research investigations, a matrix of the design principles of sustainable urban forms has been initiated in order to facilitate the assessment of the urban forms of the two selected urban communities. Some qualitatively measurable design elements have been defined for each of these principles. The results of the analysis of the shift from ‘conventional’ to ‘sustainable’ case studies have revealed some aspects that would prevent the attainment of fully sustainable urban forms in newly designed social housing neighborhoods. Finally, the research concludes by recommending some fundamental actions to help meet these challenges in future design.

In August and September of 2004, scientists from two dozen international research organizations converged in the Arabian Gulf region to participate in the UnitedArabEmirates Unified Aerosol Experiment (UAE...

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), under new leadership upon the November 2, 2004 death of its president, Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan al-Nuhayyan, has undergone a smooth transition, but it remains weak militarily and surrounded...

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), its leadership transition now complete, undertook its first major electoral process in December 2006, although with a small, hand-picked electorate and for a body with limited powers...

Samer Hamidi School of Health and Environmental Studies, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates Introduction: A national health account (NHA) provides a systematic approach to mapping the flow of health sector funds within a specified health system over a defined time period. This article attempts to present a profile of health system financing in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates using data from NHAs, and to compare the functional structures of financing schemes in Duba...

Samir Dukmak is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education in the Faculty of Education at the UnitedArabEmirates University. The research reported in this article investigated the frequency, types of and reasons for student-initiated interactions in both regular and special education classrooms in the UnitedArab Emirates…

Information is provided on the educational systems of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, the UnitedArabEmirates, and the Yemen Arab Republic in order to assist U.S. colleges and universities as they work with international student agencies and representatives from these countries. For each country, placement recommendations are offered, along with notes to…

The Emirate of Dubai is situated to the north of the UnitedArabEmirates on the Arabian Gulf. Due to its political stability and strong economy, people are continuing to immigrate to Dubai and this will enhance the stress on water resources. Therefore, demands for water will increase significantly in Dubai. The scarcity of water resources in Dubai is evident. The total production of water in the Dubai has increased to 61,478 million gallons in 2004. About 58,808 million gallons has been produced from the desalination plants in 2004. The production of freshwater from the main aquifers is about 2763 and 2655 million gallons for the years 2003 and 2004, respectively. The reduction of groundwater in 2004 may be ascribed to the low amount of rainfall and to the decreasing capacity of the aquifers. Treated wastewater is another source for water whose quantity was increased from 72 m3 to about 107 m3 in 2000 and 2004, respectively. The increase in water production in Dubai to meet the demand corresponds to population growth and this might be attributed to the political stability and strong economy. Moreover, major problems related to the water resources have appeared and affected the availability of freshwater in Dubai. These problems include: lowering water level and groundwater deterioration. This paper is aimed to assess the impacts of population growth on water resources in Dubai.

Worldwide, human brucellosis remains an important and widespread infection. In the past, there were limited data on the occurrence of human brucellosis in the UnitedArabEmirates and the reported incidence appeared to be low compared with similar areas. In 2009, a new web-based infectious disease surveillance system was introduced in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This paper reports data from this new system on human brucellosis for the 6 years 2010 to 2015. A dataset was extracted for each case of human brucellosis reported to the notification system for the 6 year period January 2010 to December 2015. Annual brucellosis rates by age-group, gender, nationality and, geographical region were calculated and compared. A total of 480 cases of brucellosis were reported. The overall crude notification rate was 3 · 3 per 100,000 population but higher rates were seen in certain population subgroups notably expatriate males of working age in the Eastern Region (approximately 10 per 100,000) and UAE nationals of all ages and both genders in Abu Dhabi (between 4 -- 24 per 100,000). These findings reflect environmental and behavioral factors linked to occupation and leisure time activities associated with the large number of small non-commercial livestock farms in Abu Dhabi. Controlling human brucellosis in these circumstances will be challenging.

... Film, Sheet and Strip From the UnitedArabEmirates: Extension of Time Limit for Preliminary Results of... polyethylene terephthalate film, sheet and strip from the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) for the period November 01... producer and/or exporter of the subject merchandise to the United States: JBF RAK LLC (JBF). Extension of...

Full Text Available Abstract Background Trauma is a major health problem in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE as well as worldwide. Trauma registries provide large longitudinal databases for analysis and policy improvement. We aim in this paper to report on the development and evolution of a national trauma registry using a staged approach by developing a single-center registry, a two-center registry, and then a multi-center registry. The three registries were established by developing suitable data collection forms, databases, and interfaces to these databases. The first two registries collected data for a finite period of time and the third is underway. The steps taken to establish these registries depend on whether the registry is intended as a single-center or multi-center registry. Findings Several issues arose and were resolved during the development of these registries such as the relational design of the database, whether to use a standalone database management system or a web-based system, and the usability and security of the system. The inclusion of preventive medicine data elements is important in a trauma registry and the focus on road traffic collision data elements is essential in a country such as the UAE. The first two registries provided valuable data which has been analyzed and published. Conclusions The main factors leading to the successful establishment of a multi-center trauma registry are the development of a concise data entry form, development of a user-friendly secure web-based database system, the availability of a computer and Internet connection in each data collection center, funded data entry personnel well trained in extracting medical data from the medical record and entering it into the computer, and experienced personnel in trauma injuries and data analysis to continuously maintain and analyze the registry.

Objectives: To provide early data regarding clinical utility of dabigatran in Al-Ain, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Methods: This was an ethics approved retrospective cross sectional study. We retrieved a total of 76 patients who were using dabigatran from September to December 2014 in the Cardiology Clinic at Al-Ain Hospital, Al-Ain, UAE. The primary analysis was designed to test the frequency of bleeding events (rate) with dabigatran 75, 110, and 150 mg. Results: The mean age ± standard deviation of cohort was 67.9 ± 1.5 years (range; 29-98 years), composed of males (52.6%) with mean age of 66.3 ± 1.7 years, and females (47.4%) with mean age of 69.6 ± 1.1 years. The highest age group was those between 61-80 years (60.5%). Most comprised the age strata of ≤75 years (73.7%). The main indication for dabigatran use was atrial fibrillation. The rate of bleeding with dabigatran was 18/76 (23.7%), and melena was the leading cause of bleeding 8/76 (10.7%). The hospitalization rate was 67.1%, dabigatran withdrawal rate was 0.01%, and mortality rate was 6.5%. The cohort had exhibited incidences of minor bleeding with one fatal major bleeding, high co-morbidities, admission, and readmission, which was not directly linked to dabigatran. We did not identify any relation of death due to dabigatran. Conclusion: Dabigatran is a suitable alternative to warfarin obviating the need for repetitive international normalized ratio monitoring, however, it may need plasma drug monitoring. PMID:26593161

Globally, there is increasing pressure on schools to enact change, and the literature indicates that transformational leadership is positively associated with school leaders' effectiveness at implementing positive reforms. Here, we report on a study conducted in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) within the current context of intense educational…

Introduction: This paper investigates the views of health care providers on continuous medical education (CME). To our knowledge, this is one of the first surveys to examine perspectives of CME in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Methods: A 6-part questionnaire focused on the following areas of CME: the workshop leaders/trainers, the training…

Psycho-educational researchers have often suggested that Emotional Intelligence (EI) is critical to academic success (Drago, 2004; La Civita, 2003), yet there is hardly any research that has ever addressed the question in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between EI as conceptualized by Mayer…

The UnitedArabEmirates is developing higher education institutions that will contribute to an educational sector providing premium degree programs. There was a belief that the recognition and achievements these institutions attained over decades in their native land would be transferable in the implementation of international branch campuses.…

Teachers around the world are using YouTube movies for different purposes. This mixed-methods study was a preliminary investigation of UnitedArabEmirates teachers' perceptions about YouTube's advantages in the classroom, current practices, and major challenges faced. Forty-five teachers completed an open-ended questionnaire. Results indicated…

This study reports on engineering graduates' labour market requisite communication competences and skills in the work environment in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Its main purpose was to investigate whether internationally required engineering graduates' communication competences were the same in third world countries or different. It used a…

Induction and mentoring of novice teachers have gained considerable worldwide attention. However, in the UnitedArabEmirates, graduates from teacher education programmes are recruited as teachers without being provided with any formal school-based support. They suffer from stress, overload, and low self-esteem and a high percentage leave…

Recently, language learning strategies have gained a lot of importance in different parts of the world, including the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Successful foreign or second language learning attempts are viewed in the light of using appropriate and effective language learning strategies. This study investigated the patterns of language learning…

The focus of this research is to assess the level of information literacy (IL) skills required for the transition-to-university experience across the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). This research further seeks to shed light on the IL levels of incoming first-year university students and describe their perceptions of their IL skills. The research…

The liberal arts education is one that is increasingly being adopted in regions far removed from the USA, such as the UnitedArabEmirates. The importing of this American educational model is, however, associated with the inexorable influences of dominant cultural forms through the effects of globalisation. However, at the same time international…

The cultural dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance is analysed in this study of an introduction to blended learning for international students. Content analysis was conducted on the survey narratives collected from three cohorts of management undergraduates in the UnitedArabEmirates. Interpretation of certainty with blended learning was found in:…

Beginning teachers have legitimate learning needs that cannot be grasped in advance or outside the school context. These needs are documented in Western literature, but the skills required by beginning teachers in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) have not been investigated. The present study responds to this research gap. Data were collected through…

Background: This research investigated the impact that children with intellectual disability in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) may have on their families. Method: Sixty-three parents completed three scales related to parent stress, ways of coping, and parenting satisfaction. Results: There were significant relationships between emotional-focused…

Greenhouses have been used in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) to produce vegetables that contribute toward UAE food security, including offering fresh vegetable produce in the off-season. However, to manage such greenhouses farmers face both technical and environmental limitations (i.e., high water s...

This study examined the results of a student evaluation of faculty against the grades awarded and the level of the course for a higher education institution in the UnitedArabEmirates. The purpose of the study was to determine if the grades awarded in the course and/or level of the course impacted the evaluation scores awarded to the faculty…

This study uses the "Index for Inclusion", developed by Booth and Ainscow, as a framework for investigating inclusive provision in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), introduced through the "School for All" initiative. The study, by Nadera Emran Alborno of the American University in Dubai and Eman Gaad of the British University in…

The purpose of the research upon which this article is based was to identify the factors that influence the higher education choices of expatriate children. The study involved a self-completed written questionnaire and structured face-to-face interviews with nineteen students at four international schools in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The…

The paper examines the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the higher education system in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Using a literature review, three elements were examined: its development and structure, quality, and research capacity. The findings reveal that the UAE's higher education sector has witnessed remarkable growth since 1997,…

textabstractBackground: The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) government aspires to build a world class health system to improve the quality of healthcare and the health outcomes for its population. To achieve this it has implemented extensive health system reforms in the past 10 years. The nature, extent

This article highlights one aspect of a case study of international educators at Dubai Women's College (DWC), UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). It examines perceptions of international educators in third space teaching female Emirati, higher-education students in the UAE. Drawing on third space theory (Bhabha, 1994), this study explored the nature of…

Developing the next generation of leaders in government is seen as a strategic challenge of national importance in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). This article examines the wicked nature of the UAE's leadership development challenge, identifying patterns of complexity, uncertainty, and divergence in the strategic intentions underlying current…

Although competency-based medical education has become the standard for physician training in the West, many developing countries have not yet adopted competency-based training. In 2009 in the UnitedArabEmirates, the government regulatory and operational authorities for healthcare in Abu Dhabi mandated a wide-scale reform of the emirate's postgraduate residency programs to the competency-based framework of the newly formed Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-International (ACGME-I). This article briefly describes the rationale for competency-based medical education and provides an overview of the transition from traditional, time-based residency training to competency-based postgraduate medical education for the Pediatrics residency programs in Abu Dhabi. We will provide data on the initial impact of this transition on resident performance and patient outcomes in a Pediatrics residency program in an academic medical center in the UnitedArabEmirates.

Pharmaceutical sponsored clinical trials, formerly conducted predominantly in the United States and Europe, have expanded to emerging regions, including the Middle East. Our study explores factors influencing clinical trial privacy and confidentiality in the UnitedArabEmirates. Factors including concept familiarity, informed consent compliance, data access, and preservation, were analyzed to assess current practices in the Arab world. As the UAE is an emerging region for clinical trials, there is a growing need for regulations related to data confidentiality and subject privacy. Informational and decisional privacy should be viewed within the realms of Arab culture and religious background.

This study examines the effectiveness of a four-stage conceptual change approach to creativity development in teacher education in the Emirate of Dubai, the UnitedArabEmirates. The participants were 32 student teachers studying at undergraduate level at an all-female university. The study examined participant preconceptions of creativity and how…

Orientation: The UnitedArab Emirates’ labour market by design is inclined to exclude generally the Emirati population from active participation in the private sector, in order to take advantage of cheap labour primarily from South Asia. Research purpose: The aim of this article was to explain, using labour market segmentation theory, how the present epoch of free market capitalism in the ‘minority state’ of the United ArabEmirates (UAE) has socially excluded its’ citizens. Motivation...

The 'post-petroleum' era represents an unprecedented challenge for the UnitedArabEmirates, because of the economical, political and social mutations generated by this transition. In their economical diversification process, what share of opportunity represents the Dubai international financial center? Located between London and Tokyo, its aim is to compete with the other existing financial places. Should it become an alternative to the traditional financing ways? (J.S.)

Background: The extensive use of computers as medium of teaching and learning in universities necessitates introspection into the extent of computer related health disorders among student population. Aim: This study was undertaken to assess the pattern of computer usage and related visual problems, among University students in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates. Materials and Methods: A total of 500 Students studying in Gulf Medical University, Ajman and Ajman University of Science and Technology we...

One major area of discussion during the 2005 process of initially codifying Muslim personal status law in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) were regulations regarding the divorced mother's right to custody of her minor children. The new rules regarding the allocation and duration of female custodianship are the outcome of fiery debates among various actors involved in the codification process. The new codified custody rules differ from traditional Islamic law and concede large discretionary powe...

Awareness about negative externalities generated by conventional farming is gaining momentum with consumers around the world, opting for alternatively, namely organically, produced food products. Information about consumers’ awareness is an essential element for farmers and marketing agencies to successfully plan production that can capture a greater market share. This study discusses effective factors influencing consumers’ awareness about the benefits of organic food in the UnitedArabEmir...

With a rise in global incidence of overweight and obesity, the number of patients seeking weight management (WM) advice is likely to increase. Our aim was to explore the prevalence of WM practices and investigate association of WM goals with sociodemographic variables and practices among UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) adults. An exploratory, cross-sectional research was conducted on 1275 adult males and females, residing in UAE. A structured questionnaire was administered. WM goals to lose/mainta...

This 2014 Article IV Consultation highlights that the UnitedArabEmirates has continued to benefit from its perceived safe-haven status amid regional instability. The economic recovery has been solid, supported by the tourism and hospitality sectors, and a rebounding real estate sector. Although growth in oil production moderated, public projects in Abu Dhabi and buoyant growth in Dubai’s service sectors continued to underpin growth, which reached 5.2 percent in 2013. The macroeconomic outlo...

Purpose. To examine the role of air quality in relation to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, wheeze, and dry cough among adolescents from the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Methods. A survey was administered on 6,363 adolescents from 9 UAE regions. Data consists of demographic, socioeconomic, residential, and behavioural variables, such as location of residence, residing near industry/gas stations/dumpsites/construction sites, residing near overhead power line/plants, exposure to tobacco, r...

The paper investigates differences in entrepreneurial activity, attitudes, aspirations, connectivity and behavior among nascent entrepreneurs across five key nationality groups residing in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). It also seeks to identify key differences between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs' perceptions and attitudes toward entrepreneurship. More than 8000 adult residents were randomly surveyed as part of the GEM UAE studies conducted in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2011. The findings ...

The Military Survey Department (MSD) of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) undertook an airborne gravity survey project for the marine area of the country in 2009, especially to strengthen the marine and coastal geoid in the near-shore regions. For the airborne gravity survey, 5 km spacing coast...... flight speed of 170 knots and a typical flight elevation of 900-1500 m, depending on weather conditions and topography. Gravity was measured with a ZLS-modified LaCoste and Romberg gravimeter (S-99), augmented with a Honeywell strap-down inertial navigation system unit. The estimated accuracy...

Limited research has been conducted in the UnitedArabEmirates in relation to postpartum depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk and protective factors of postpartum depression in women in Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates. We carried out a prospective study in which we followed women from the second trimester of pregnancy until 4 months postpartum. Data were collected during the second and third trimesters and then at 2- and 4- months postpartum. The risk/protective factors that were investigated included: depression and anxiety during pregnancy, stressful life events, breastfeeding, employment status following delivery, religiosity, and socio-demographic variables. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (screening) and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory (diagnostic) were used as outcome variables. Using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory (diagnostic), 10% of the 137 participants in the study were diagnosed with postpartum depression. The following variables were found to be predictive of postpartum depression: depression during pregnancy in both the second and third trimesters: number of children, religion, and use of formula for feeding. Several factors were of borderline significance including educational level of mother, lack of breastfeeding, personal stressful life events, and employment status following delivery. These risk factors are important as they indicate potential areas for early identification. Screening of pregnant women during pregnancy and in the postpartum phase would be important. This study forms the foundation for further research and development related to prevention and intervention for postpartum depression in this Arab context.

As part of a decision to diversify its energy mix, the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has begun construction of its first nuclear power plant. In that context, it has also taken a number of important steps to integrate itself into the international regime for nuclear safety: adoption of the UAE's Federal Law No. 6 of 2009 on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, establishment of the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), establishment of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC), awarding of the first contract for nuclear power plants in the UAE, etc. The UAE nuclear liability regime is then presented, with details on the basic principles that form the foundation of the nuclear liability conventions, followed by the participation of the FANR in the Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) in September 2012

Conclusion: The anthropometric profile of soccer players that act in the UnitedArabEmirates is similar to others around the world. However, regarding the physical fitness, results are still inconclusive, since findings from other studies suggest that the anaerobic power of our sample is alike or lower than other elite players throughout the world. Likewise indirect VO2max, especially given the acknowledged limitations of obtaining indirectly this variable. In addition, making an analysis by playing position, the results of this study are similar to previous research.

Full Text Available Little is documented on the alien terrestrial and freshwater species in the UnitedArabEmirates. To address this, an assessment of terrestrial and freshwater alien species was conducted using various techniques such as a questionnaire, fieldwork data, networking with relevant people, and a detailed literature review. The results of the initial assessment show that there are 146 alien species recorded in the following seven major taxonomic groups: invertebrates 49 species, freshwater fish five species, amphibian one species, reptiles six species, birds 71 species, mammals six species and plants eight species. To inform decision makers a full list of the 146 species identified in this assessment is presented.

UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has established a comprehensive legal & regulatory framework conforming to IAEA standards/guidance to regulate the nuclear sector. Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) is a functioning independent nuclear regulator providing controls on safety, security and non-proliferation. UAE benefits from strong international support, incl. IAEA and access to Korean organizations and practices. UAE has an active capacity building programme both human and technical. Peer reviews show UAE regulatory system is aligned with good international practices. UAE has long term commitment to develop and maintain safety culture.

UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) is currently undergoing massive educational reform, especially in the teaching and assessment methods of all subject-matter areas. In Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has mandated the revamping of English language teaching and assessment in grades 6-12 through the introduction of…

Background: Hand hygiene at key moments during patient care is considered an important infection prevention and control measure to reduce healthcare-associated infections. While there is extensive research in Western settings, there is little in the UnitedArabEmirates where particular cultural and religious customs are thought to influence hand hygiene behaviour. Aim: To examine the hand hygiene knowledge and beliefs of health professionals at a tertiary care hospital in the UnitedArabEmirates. Methods: A mixed methods design employed a survey followed by focus groups with nurses and doctors. Findings: A total of 109 participants (13.6%) completed the survey: 96 nurses (88%) and 13 doctors (12%). Doctors’ hand hygiene knowledge was slightly higher than that of nurses (78.5% versus 73.5%). There was no significant difference in scores on the hand hygiene beliefs scale between nurses (M = 103.06; SD = 8.0) and doctors (M = 99.00; SD = 10.53; t (80) = 1.55; p = 0.13, two-tailed). Seven categories emerged following transcript analysis. Discussion: Hand hygiene knowledge scores suggest further hand hygiene education is required, especially on alcohol-based hand rub use. Addressing doctors’ beliefs is particularly important given the leadership roles that doctors play in healthcare settings. PMID:28989517

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has caused an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory tract infection in humans in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012. Dromedary camels have been implicated as possible viral reservoirs. We used serologic assays to analyze 651 dromedary camel serum samples from the UnitedArabEmirates; 151 of 651 samples were obtained in 2003, well before onset of the current epidemic, and 500 serum samples were obtained in 2013. Recombinant spike protein-specific immunofluorescence and virus neutralization tests enabled clear discrimination between MERS-CoV and bovine CoV infections. Most (632/651, 97.1%) camels had antibodies against MERS-CoV. This result included all 151 serum samples obtained in 2003. Most (389/651, 59.8%) serum samples had MERS-CoV-neutralizing antibody titers >1,280. Dromedary camels from the UnitedArabEmirates were infected at high rates with MERS-CoV or a closely related, probably conspecific, virus long before the first human MERS cases.

ACHROMATOPSIA RESULTS FROM MUTATIONS IN ONE OF THREE GENES: cyclic nucleotide-gated channel, alpha-3 (CNGA3); cyclic nucleotide-gated channel, beta-3 (CNGB3); and guanine nucleotide-binding protein, alpha-transducing activity polypeptide 2 (GNAT2). We report the responsible mutations in two UnitedArabEmirates families who have this autosomal recessive disease. Clinical examinations were performed in seven patients from three nuclear families. Molecular genetic testing for common CNGA3 and CNGB3 mutations was undertaken using standard protocols. All patients were extremely light sensitive and had reduced visual acuity and no color perception. Fundus examinations did not show any visible abnormalities. After further pedigree analysis, two of the families were found to be linked through the paternal line. Two mutations in CNGA3 were identified: Arg283Trp and Gly397Val. Family A, the larger pedigree, had one branch in which two sisters and one brother were homozygous for the Gly397Val mutation and another branch in which a brother and sister were compound heterozygous for both aforenamed mutations. Family B, however, only had two brothers who were homozygous for the Arg283Trp mutation. Achromatopsia in these two UnitedArabEmirates families results from two different mutations in CNGA3. Two branches of the same pedigree had individuals with both homozygous and compound heterozygous disease, demonstrating a complex molecular pathology in this large family.

The effects of oil shocks and macro policy changes in the UnitedArabEmirates are analyzed. A theoretical model is developed within the framework of the Dutch Disease literature. It contains four unique features that are applicable to the UnitedArabEmirates' economy. There are: (1) the presence of a large foreign labor force; (2) OPEC's oil export quotas; (3) the division of oil profits; and (4) the important role of government expenditures. The model is then used to examine the welfare effects of the above-mentioned shocks. An econometric model is then specified that conforms to the analytical model. In the econometric model the method of 'principal components' is applied owing to the undersized sample data. The principal components methodology is used in both the identification testing and the estimation of the structural equations. The oil and macro policy shocks are then simulated. The simulation results show that an oil-quantity boom leads to a higher welfare gain than an oil-price boom. Under certain circumstances, this finding is also confirmed by the comparative statistics that follow from the analytical model

Full Text Available In academia, smooth progression of students significantly depends on the way curricula are developed and organized. Curricula or study plans with high degree of interconnectivity between courses, multiple prerequisites, and hierarchically structured courses tend to complicate the smooth progress of the enrolled students. In this work, a rigorous quantitative relaxation indicator, developed and published elsewhere by the first author, has been applied to quantify the degree of stiffness and rigidity in undergraduate engineering curricula at the American University of Sharjah (AUS, the University of Sharjah (UOS, UnitedArabEmirates University (UAEU, and the Petroleum Institute (PI, which are the leading universities in the UnitedArabEmirates. Results indicate high rigidity (low relaxation indices due to high degree of interconnectivity between courses, specifically in the second year of the study plans. The chemical engineering curriculum at PI exhibited the least flexibility due to very strong pre-and-co-requisite ties while the civil & environmental curriculum at UAEU showed the highest flexibility. The curricula considered require immediate attention and reorganization in order to facilitate smooth sequential progress of the students from one semester to another. A list of courses that require relaxation of strong pre-and corequisites ties has been presented for each curriculum.

Full Text Available Awareness about negative externalities generated by conventional farming is gaining momentum with consumers around the world, opting for alternatively, namely organically, produced food products. Information about consumers’ awareness is an essential element for farmers and marketing agencies to successfully plan production that can capture a greater market share. This study discusses effective factors influencing consumers’ awareness about the benefits of organic food in the UnitedArabEmirates. Sample data and ordinary least square (OLS regression techniques are applied to delineate factors influencing consumers’ awareness about organic food. The results from this regression analysis highlight the importance of specific socioeconomic determinants that change awareness about organic food products in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE households. This study finds that awareness about organic food is influenced more effective factors such as gender, nationality, and education as well as income, occupation and age. These research findings apply to other economies and societies that have an increasing per capita spending on organic food, but also where people are highly sensitive to information provided about organic food. Therefore, these results are important to these research beneficiaries including food marketing planners, researchers, and agricultural and food policy makers.

Full Text Available Herbs are extensively consumed in the UnitedArabEmirates for their flavoring and medicinal properties. This study aimed at determining the concentration of heavy metals in selected traditional herbs consumed in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. A total of 81 samples of seven herbs, parsley (Petroselinum crispum, basil (Ocimum basilicum, sage (Salvia officinalis, oregano (Origanum vulgare, mint (Mentha spicata, thyme (Thymus vulgaris, and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla, were purchased from the local market in Dubai and analyzed for their cadmium, lead, copper, iron, and zinc contents. Microwave-assisted digestion was applied for the dissolution of the samples and heavy metals concentration was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS. Metals were found to be present in varied concentrations in the herb samples. The concentration ranges were found as follows: less than 0.1–1.11 mg·kg−1 for cadmium, less than 1.0–23.52 mg·kg−1 for lead, 1.44–156.24 mg·kg−1 for copper, 12.65–146.67 mg·kg−1 for zinc, and 81.25–1101.22 mg·kg−1 for iron. The findings of the study suggest that most of the analyzed herbs contained unsafe levels of heavy metals that exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO permissible limits (PL.

Moral competencies and ethical practices of medical professionals are among the desired outcomes of academic training. Unfortunately, academic dishonesty and misconduct are reported from medical colleges across the world. This study investigates the level of academic dishonesty/misconduct among multicultural medical students. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of academic dishonesty/misconduct among multicultural medical students. Validated and customized version of Dundee Polyprofessionalism Inventory-1 detailing lapses of professionalism in undergraduate health professions education was used to determine the perceived prevalence and self-reported lapses of academic integrity in this study. This study shows that the majority (458/554, 83%) of medical students have admitted to acts of academic dishonesty mentioned in the questionnaire. Approximately 42% (231/554) of the students have given proxy for attendance and 71% of them considered this as an offense. Similarly, 12% (66/554) have copied from the record books of others, and 86% (477/554) have considered it unethical. In addition, 5% (28/554) of the students revealed forging a teacher's signature in their record or logbooks, with 16% (91/554) of them reporting that they have seen others forge signatures. This is the first multi-center, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic study involving a large number of participants that addresses academic professionalism among medical students in the Middle East. Certainly, the paucity of data limits definitive conclusions about the best approach to prevent academic misconduct in the UAE medical schools. Yet, the results of our study are anticipated not only to benefit the UAE but also to find application in the Arab world, with similar medical school programs, values, culture and tradition.

Full Text Available Six termite species, belonging to five genera and three families (Hodotermitidae, Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae were identified in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. Termite species recorded were the harvester termites Anacanthotermes ochraceus (Burmeister and Anacanthotermes ubachi (Navas, the sand termite Psammotermes hypostoma (Desneux and the small waxy termites Microcerotermes diversus (Silvestri, Heterotermes aethiopicus (Sjostedt, and Microtermes najdensis (Harris. Except for a previous record of H. aethiopicus, the other five species were recorded for the first time in the UAE. All species were subterranean in habitat and reach wood sources through earthen gallery systems. Termites were available in areas with varied conditions of climate, vegetation and soil types. Termites showed host preference for dead, living, or decaying plant materials and non-cellulose materials. The dominant termite species recorded was A. ochraceus, followed by P. hypostoma and M. diversus. The distributions of the six termite species varied in each of the seven Emirates. All species were present in the two largest Emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Issues of assessment design and implementation in Kuwait and the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) have attracted some attention over recent years, but teachers' philosophies about assessment remain underexplored. This article reports the findings of a qualitative study into the assessment roles and philosophies of a group of teachers of English as a…

In the face of rising demand for private schooling in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) and Qatar, a lack of affordable schooling options, monopolistic behavior of private education providers, and unpredictable government regulations have created a complex and unequal education sector. This research employs a mixed methods comparative approach to…

During the last decade, several countries across the Middle and Far East have established higher education hubs, some of which have grown rapidly by attracting foreign universities to set up international branch campuses. The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) is by far the largest host of international branch campuses globally, having over 40 providers…

As many countries expand their higher education systems, they must attract, support, and retain qualified academic staff. This paper focuses on the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) as a case study of a nation drawing on large numbers of mostly expatriate faculty working in short-term academic appointments. The paper begins by considering the national…

The current study addresses student perceptions of math and science professors in the Middle East. Gender disparity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education continues to exist in higher education, with male professors holding a normative position. This disparity can also be seen in the UnitedArabEmirates. As female…

As the UnitedArabEmirates diversifies its economy towards knowledge-based industries, maximising the participation of the national workforce, particularly women, in the science, engineering and technology fields is of utmost importance. To accomplish this, identifying the factors that lead students to select their degree programme, as well as…

Teachers from schools across the UnitedArabEmirates were asked to complete two questionnaires. The first questionnaire sought data from the teachers on their experience, qualifications, classes taught and attitudes in relation to inclusion. Information was also sought on the advantages and disadvantages of inclusion, the most difficult…

With limited employment opportunities, entrepreneurship is becoming a viable option to combat unemployment. This study explores undergraduate students' attitudes towards business and social entrepreneurship in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), assuming that the lack of awareness among students regarding social entrepreneurship and the lack of…

In light of increasing spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the Middle East, we assessed knowledge, attitudes, and educational needs of young people in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), a modern and moderately conservative Islamic country. A cross-sectional survey among randomly selected first-year, gender-segregated Arab students at the national university in Al Ain in 2005 was conducted using an adaptation of an anonymous self-administered World Health Organization questionnaire. Knowledge and attitudes were scored. Response was 89%; 119 males and 148 females. Knowledge scores about HIV/AIDS were low for 75%, moderate for 24%, high for school. Ninety-six percent stated that young people should be taught how to protect themselves and 57% that teaching at school was insufficient. Main information sources were books/media; preferred sources were media, schools, and health professionals. Males scored higher on knowledge and were more susceptible to fear of STDs, society, and family; females showed greater compassion and interest in premarital testing and education to protect themselves. Alarming gaps in knowledge about transmission and curability put young Arabs at risk of contracting HIV. Fear and intolerant attitudes toward PLH were prevalent. HIV/AIDS education designed to raise knowledge and change attitudes, and respectful of community values, is urgently needed from media, schools, and health professionals.

UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D. Not much data are available regarding the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency among multiethnic UAE adult population. (1) To determine the prevalence of hypovitaminosis D in multiethnic UAE population (2) To compare the Vitamin D status in Arab and non-Arab population (3) To identify the demographic variables associated with hypovitaminosis D. It was a retrospective study conducted at a secondary care hospital. Electronic case records of all the subjects who had checked their Vitamin D levels during the time period of May 2010-October 2012 were considered for the study. Vitamin D severe deficiency, deficiency, insufficiency, and sufficiency were defined as serum 25-hydroxy Vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels 30 ng/mL, respectively. A total 425 subjects were included for the data analysis. Vitamin D deficiency was diagnosed in 208 (48.9%) subjects followed by severe Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in 141 (33.2%) and 63 (14.8%) subjects, respectively. The overall prevalence of hypovitaminosis D was 96.9%. Negative association (r = -0.196, P < 0.01) was observed between body mass index (BMI) and 25(OH)D levels. Ethnicity was not (P = 0.103) a predictor of 25(OH)D levels. Majority of our study subjects had Vitamin D deficiency. There was no substantial difference in 25(OH)D levels of different ethnic groups. Female gender, age, and BMI were the predictors 25(OH)D levels.

The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of 5-year-old preschoolers in Sharjah, affected by dental erosion and to assess the predictors. A total of 403 5-year-old children were examined of which 48.14% (n = 194) were boys and 51.86% (n = 209) were girls; 31.27% (n = 126) were Emirati and 68.73% (n = 277) were non-Emirati Arabs. Examination of dental erosion was confined to palatal surfaces of maxillary incisors using the erosion index described in the UK National Survey of Children's Dental Health, 1993. Dental caries was charted using the World Health Organization 1997 criteria. In the sample of 403 5-year-old preschoolers examined, dental erosion was apparent in 237 (58.80%) children, with 55.09% showing the dissolution of enamel and 3.72% exhibiting exposed dentin. Predictors of dental erosion as determined by logistic regression concluded that compared to Emirati citizens other Arab nationalities have 0.27 times the odds (95% confidence interval [CI] =0.18-0.42) of having tooth erosion (P UnitedArabEmirates, were affected by dental erosion. Caries experience and consumption of acidic drinks were associated with dental erosion.

Harter's Self-Perception Profile for children (SPPC) is a self-reportinginventory for ascertain children's perception of themselves in variousspecific domains of their life, as well as their sense of global self-worth.A few studies have examined the psychometric properties of this instrument inthe Western setting, but none have investigated this in an Arabic culture.Psychometric properties of the SPPC were examined using a sample of 100schoolchildren aged 8 to 16 years in the UnitedArabEmirates. The internalconsistency reliability was found to be excellent with Chronbach's alpha,ranging from 0.86 to 0.92. Significant age and gender differences were foundwith the internal consistency reliability scores, being higher in childrenaged 13 to 16 years (0.88 to 0.93) when compared to younger children,especially bys aged 8 to 12 years (0.54 to 0.66), suggesting a need toexercise caution while using this scale in young boys in this culture.Behavioral conduct subscale was found to have the highest reliability scoreand the strongest correlation to global self-worth (r=0.54) for both youngerand older children in our sample. This in contract to findings from similarstudies carried out on American and Dutch samples, where this subscale wasfound to have the lowest reliability score and the weakest correlation withone's global self-worth. The findings indicate that the SPPC is a reliableand internally valid instrument for use in the Arab culture. (author)

While most of the rocks in the UnitedArabEmirates are of sedimentary marine origin there are also some granites and metamorphic rock areas. It is understood that Hunting Geology and Geophysics Ltd were contracted in 1975 to carry out a mineral survey over 11,500 square kilometres utilising, among others, gamma-ray spectrometry. The results of this survey are not known. A report in 1974 of a large occurrence of uranium in Fujairah was later discredited but at least two radioactive anomalies are known in the country. The existence of granitic rocks and the appropriate conditions for calcareous duricrust formations may indicate some slight potential for uranium. The Speculative Potential may be in the 1000 to 10,000 tonnes uranium category. (author)

Full Text Available Emerging 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life can offer students with opportunities to enhance learning using rich collaborative asynchronous media. Virtual worlds are believed to impact the future of higher education and therefore, universities across the world are immersing themselves inside virtual worlds to establish a unique learning and research environments. This research examines the viability of Second Life as an educational platform from the perspective of a group of students in an Islamic society context. The students were attending one of the universities in the UnitedArabEmirates. The analysis indicates that students experienced both positive and negative aspects of Second Life. The results do encourage further experimentation in this positive novel way for learning.

Full Text Available Emerging 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life can offer students with opportunities to enhance learning using rich collaborative asynchronous media. Virtual worlds are believed to impact the future of higher education and therefore, universities across the world are immersing themselves inside virtual worlds to establish a unique learning and research environments. This research examines the viability of Second Life as an educational platform from the perspective of a group of students in an Islamic society context. The students were attending one of the universities in the UnitedArabEmirates. The analysis indicates that students experienced both positive and negative aspects of Second Life. The results do encourage further experimentation in this positive novel way for learning.

Based on the need to develop additional sources of electricity to meet future demand and to ensure the rapid growth of its economy, the UnitedArabEmirates has embarked on a nuclear programme. The Federal Law by Decree No. 6 of 2009, Concerning the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed by the President, last fall. This law created the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), which is developing the framework of regulations which will guide the UAE programme. This paper reviews the development of the FANR regulation on Siting and the related environmental issues in general and those unique to the area. This will include steps being planned by the Authority to review the license application and the current concepts being looked at for the inspection programme. Among the unique aspects the author will look at are the results from a recent in-depth study performed on dust and sand storms. (author)

In this study, an empirical algorithm was established to retrieve particulate matter (PM) concentrations (PM2.5 and PM10) using satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Validation of the proposed algorithm using ground truth data demonstrates its good accuracy. Time series of in situ measured PM concentrations between 2014 and 2015 showed high values in summer and low values in winter. Estimated and in situ measured PM concentrations were higher in 2015 than 2014. Remote sensing is an essential tool to reveal and back track the seasonality and inter-annual variations of PM concentrations and provide valuable information on the protection of human health and the response of air quality to anthropogenic activities and climate change.

Clinical and public health research depends on factors including national systems, socio-cultural influences, and access to organisations and individuals. As a 'new' country, the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has yet to develop strong support for population research. However, there is interest in research. The challenges for quantitative and qualitative research include the varied composition and mobility of the UAE population, with limited health records and disease registries. Long-term follow-up of patients, and tracing foreign workers who may only be in the UAE for a few years, are two major obstacles for longitudinal studies. There can also be a reluctance shown by parts of the population to participate in studies, especially those that require responding to what is perceived as sensitive questions. Successful execution of population research in the UAE requires an understanding of socio-cultural aspects of the study population, and good communication between researchers and participants.

This study aimed to determine contraceptive utilisation among mothers aged 18-49 years old in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). This cross-sectional study was carried out from May to November 2013. A total of 400 participants were recruited from two primary healthcare centres and one private hospital in Ajman. An interviewer-administered validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The frequency of previous and current contraceptive use was 68.0% and 61.8%, respectively. Expatriates more frequently used contraceptives in comparison to Emiratis (77.3% versus 54.3%, respectively). Contraceptive use increased significantly with age (75.5% among >35-year-olds versus 57.3% among ≤25-year-olds; P employment sector, parity, knowledge of birth control measures and source of birth control information ( P UAE.

Full Text Available Managing workplace diversity has become a priority concern among organizations in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE today. The UAE has one of the world's largest net migration rates, and the number of workers from India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, the USA, among other countries, has increased significantly in recent decades (Burns, 2005. The UAE's cross-border mobility has resulted in the interaction of people with diverse language, customs and ethnic backgrounds. Although diversity has been shown to have a number of benefits, including enhanced employee creativity and competence, this recognition is often found more in theory than actual practice. Diversity can also lead to miscommunication, dysfunctional adaptation behaviors and the creation of barriers that reduce the benefits diversity can bring to the organization. Due to the nature of the UAE workplace, which is dominated by a foreign workforce, this study critically analyzes the benefits and challenges organizations face in the diverse workplaces of the UnitedArabEmirates. The study used a multi-method approach combining survey data from 450 surveys of foreign workers with qualitative data from interviews with native officials of organizations. It is an attempt to compare the views of UAE workplace experience from two different groups—non-native workers and native officials. The research found a generally favorable view toward workplace diversity from the perspective of surveyed employees. However, when asked more detailed questions about company policy, a significant segment of respondents expressed reservations about their employer’s ability to implement successful intercultural communication and diversity practices.

Full Text Available Background. The CTX-M family of extended-spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL enzymes is comprised of over 60 blaCTX-M gene variants with the predominance of blaCTX-M-15 in many regions. In this report, we present the first description of blaCTX-M-28 in the UnitedArabEmirates. Methods. Forty-five non-duplicate ESBL producing isolates identified in a secondary care facility in the UnitedArabEmirates from June to July 2016 were studied. Gene sequencing was performed and DNA sequences were annotated using the BLAST program to identify the gene subtypes. Results. The majority of the ESBL positive isolates were E. coli (n/N=39/45; 86.6% followed by K. pneumoniae (n=5 and K. oxytoca (n=1. All isolates harboured blaCTX-M and blaTEM genes, 18 had blaSHV, and 2 were blaVIM positive. Thirty-seven isolates (82.2% were positive for blaCTX-M-28. Other blaCTX-M genes identified include blaCTX-M-167 (n=2; isolates #1 and 26 and one each for blaCTX-M-38, blaCTX-M-163, and blaCTX-M-198. No blaCTX-M-15 was identified. The predominant blaTEM subtype was blaTEM-171 (n=8 followed by one of each of blaTEM-120, blaTEM-163, and blaTEM-206. The blaSHV subtypes were blaSHV-148 and blaSHV-187. Conclusion. The findings indicate the first description of blaCTX-M-28 in a setting where blaCTX-M-15 was previously predominant.

Background Although vitamin D deficiency has been studied in various adult populations, there are few data on the prevalence of this nutritional deficiency among healthy adolescents in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and to examine its correlates in adolescents aged 15 to 18 years. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in urban schools. Healthy adolescents (N=315) from a sample of 8 schools were randomly selected from the 142 schools in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi Emirate. Outcomes measured included serum concentrations of 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD), plasma lipids, blood sugar, blood pressure and anthropometric data, nutrition and lifestyle variables. Results Fourty-one participants (19.7%) were vitamin D deficient (serum 25OHD level ≤15 ng/mL [≤37.5 nmol/L]. Using a cutoff level of 25(OH) D of ≤20 ng/ml [≤50 nmol/l] 143 participants (45.4%) were vitamin D insufficient. Overall 65.1% of study participants were either vitamin D deficient or insufficient. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency varied between boys (10%) and girls (28%). In a final multivariate model, serum 25(OH) D concentrations were inversely correlated with female gender, consumption of fast food per week, and body mass index and positively correlated with physical activity scores after adjustment for age. Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were highly prevalent in adolescents, and more common in girls. PMID:23311702

To assess fluoride concentration in drinking water which include tap water of 4 emirates - Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman plus bottled water, commonly available soft drinks & juices in UnitedArabEmirates. Five different samples of tap water collected from each of the four emirates of UAE: Ajman, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai; twenty-two brands of bottled water and fifteen brands of popular cold beverages, purchased from different supermarkets in U.A.E were tested using ion selective electrode method and the fluoride concentration was determined. The mean fluoride content of tap water samples was 0.14 mg F/L with a range of 0.04-0.3 mg F/L; with Ajman tap water samples showing the highest mean fluoride content of 0.3 mg F/L. The mean fluoride content for both bottled drinking water and beverages was 0.07 mg F/L with a range of 0.02-0.50 mg F/L and 0.04-0.1 mg F/L respectively. Majority (68.2%) of the bottled water are produced locally within U.A.E while a few (31.8%) are imported. The tap water, bottled water and beverages available in U.A.E show varying concentrations of fluoride, however none showed the optimal level necessary to prevent dental caries. Dental professionals in U.A.E should be aware of the fluoride concentrations before prescribing fluoride supplements to children.

Full Text Available Aims: The transformation of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE from a semi-nomadic to a high income society has been accompanied by increasing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. We examined if the AGE-RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation endproducts axis is associated with obesity and diabetes mellitus in the pilot phase of the UAE Healthy Futures Study (UAEHFS. Methods: 517 Emirati subjects were enrolled and plasma/serum levels of AGE, carboxy methyl lysine (CML-AGE, soluble (sRAGE and endogenous secretory (esRAGE were measured along with weight, height, waist and hip circumference (WC/HC, blood pressure, HbA1c, Vitamin D levels and routine chemistries. The relationship between the AGE-RAGE axis and obesity and diabetes mellitus was tested using proportional odds models and linear regression. Results: After covariate adjustment, AGE levels were significantly associated with diabetes status. Levels of sRAGE and esRAGE were associated with BMI and levels of sRAGE were associated with WC/HC. Conclusions: The AGE-RAGE axis is associated with diabetes status and obesity in this Arab population. Prospective serial analysis of this axis may identify predictive biomarkers of obesity and cardiometabolic dysfunction in the UAEHFS. Keywords: Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs, Receptor for AGE (RAGE, Cohort study, Diabetes mellitus, Obesity

The transformation of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) from a semi-nomadic to a high income society has been accompanied by increasing rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. We examined if the AGE-RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation endproducts) axis is associated with obesity and diabetes mellitus in the pilot phase of the UAE Healthy Futures Study (UAEHFS). 517 Emirati subjects were enrolled and plasma/serum levels of AGE, carboxy methyl lysine (CML)-AGE, soluble (s)RAGE and endogenous secretory (es)RAGE were measured along with weight, height, waist and hip circumference (WC/HC), blood pressure, HbA1c, Vitamin D levels and routine chemistries. The relationship between the AGE-RAGE axis and obesity and diabetes mellitus was tested using proportional odds models and linear regression. After covariate adjustment, AGE levels were significantly associated with diabetes status. Levels of sRAGE and esRAGE were associated with BMI and levels of sRAGE were associated with WC/HC. The AGE-RAGE axis is associated with diabetes status and obesity in this Arab population. Prospective serial analysis of this axis may identify predictive biomarkers of obesity and cardiometabolic dysfunction in the UAEHFS.

Child safeguarding is society's responsibility. Dentists are uniquely positioned to recognise Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) in dental practice and the wider society. The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) introduced a child protection law in 2016. We aimed to assess the awareness of UAE dentists of child maltreatment, protection and safeguarding. Study Design A cross-sectional survey. We surveyed 381 UAE dentists about the knowledge and practice of CAN and safeguarding issues using a self-administered anonymous questionnaire. Statistical analysis was carried out using Chi-square, t-test, ANOVA and Pearson's correlation test and statistical significance was set as p knowledgeable about diagnosing CAN. Paediatric dentists attended more CAN-related postgraduate training (pprotection guidelines. Dentists barriers to child protection reporting were; fear of family violence (59.6%, n=227), lack of knowledge of referral process (60.2%, n=228) and lack of diagnosis certainty (54.9%, n=206). UAE dentists qualified in Western and Asian countries had fewer barriers for child protection reporting (p=0.022) than the Arab and Gulf Cooperation Council qualified dentists. A large minority of UAE dentists suspected CAN. Factors influencing child protection reporting were identified. Dentists' gender, specialty, and country of qualification affected their knowledge of CAN and practice of safeguarding. Child protection training is recommended.

Full Text Available The cultural heritage has always been an important tool in the political and identity formation of the nation-states. In the Western countries the gradual overcoming of nineteenth-century nationalism has paved the way for a post-modern use of their heritage, where tourism, market, culture, leisure and entertainment appear to be deeply interwoven. Museums, monuments and archaeological sites are important elements in the cultural and historical theming of consumption and in the promotion of the areas and requalification of their image. In the last decade the richest states in the Middle East, starting from the UnitedArabEmirates, have adopted both of these Western uses of heritage: local culture and monuments are used both as means of building or reinventing identity in a religious and national key and as instruments to promote the areas in recreational and tourist function. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are two significant cases. Their intangible heritage, which is enhanced and crystallized in a tourist way, concurs to construct a local historical identity. On the other hand, the major Western national museums, which in Europe have almost exhausted their political and identity function, are called to open branches there to attract international tourism, according to its post-modern model, and to assert the new metropolitan and international identity of these capitals. In such a context of renewed interest in the cultural heritage, we can recall the significant decision of Bahrain of hosting a centre devoted to Arab heritage under the auspices of UNESCO.

To investigate the prevalence, nature and sociodemographic correlates of mental disorders among the elderly UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) population. STUDY SUBJECTS AND SAMPLE: UAE nationals aged 60 years or more, were recruited from within a random sample of households representing the UAE national population, irrespective of the age of individuals in each household. RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS: (i) Geriatric Mental State Interview (GMS-A3): an Arabic version, using the AGECAT for analysis; (ii) A short questionnaire for relevant sociodemographic data. Purposely trained, Arabic speaking interviewers visited the targeted sample households to interview study subjects at their homes. The total number of screened subjects was 610: 166 (27.2%) in Al-Ain; 286 (46.9%) in Dubai and 158 (25.9%) in Ras Al-Khaimah. There were 347 (56.9%) male subjects and 263 (43.1%) female subjects. The mean age of the interviewed subjects was 68.6 (SD 8.3). The commonest diagnostic entities at the AGECAT syndrome case level were depression (20.2%), anxiety (5.6%), hypochondriasis (4.4%) and organic, mostly cognitive impairment with or without dementia (3.6%). Organic syndrome caseness, as an independent entity, showed significant correlation only to older age, while the rest of the mental disorders showed significant correlation with female gender, insufficient income and being single, separated, divorced or widowed. The GMS-AGECAT package proved to be a useful tool for psychiatric assessment among the elderly in this Arabian culture. The prevalence rates of mental disorders among the elderly UAE population were, more or less, within the same range reported by other comparable worldwide studies. Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Full Text Available Sheep and goat production systems in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE operate under scarce natural resource constraints. A cross-sectional survey that covered 661 mixed farms, including major sheep and goat production, was conducted in the three regions of Abu Dhabi Emirate (Al-Ain, Western Region and Abu Dhabi city during 2012. A Cobb-Douglas, double-logarithmic stochastic frontier production function and maximum likelihood estimation were applied to estimate important economic derivatives and the associated risk of small ruminant production in this arid area. The highest impact of an input on the output level was found to be labor for raising sheep and alfalfa grass for raising goats. Both labor and alfalfa variables were found to be overutilized for sheep and goat production, respectively. Overall, the results indicate that average technical efficiency is 0.62 for raising sheep and only 0.34 for raising goats in the study area. Technical efficiency analysis included measuring the frequency of farms at each level of estimated technical efficiency in the range between zero and one. Zero for the technical efficiency coefficient indicates a lack of technical efficiency in resource use. The results of this study indicated that only 1% of the sheep farms show a technical efficiency coefficient of 0.25 or less; the same can be said for 41% of goat producers. However, these technical efficiencies were found to be more than 0.75 for 12% and 5% of the sheep and goat farms, respectively. Overall, goat farming in the UAE was found to be less efficient than sheep production. The results also indicated that flock size and type of breed were the most influential factors relative to other factors, and both show a positive relationship with technical efficiency. Other than flock size, factors, such as owners’ years of experience and management practices, were found to be more influential on goat farming system efficiency relative to sheep farming.

Full Text Available Samer Hamidi School of Health and Environmental Studies, Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates Introduction: A national health account (NHA provides a systematic approach to mapping the flow of health sector funds within a specified health system over a defined time period. This article attempts to present a profile of health system financing in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates using data from NHAs, and to compare the functional structures of financing schemes in Dubai with schemes in Qatar and selected member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD. Methods: The author analyzed secondary data published in NHAs of Dubai and Qatar and data collected by the OECD countries and publicly available from Eurostat (Statistical Office of the European Union of 25 OECD countries for comparative analysis. All health financing indicators used were as defined in the international System of Health Accounts (SHA. Results: In Dubai, spending on inpatient care was the highest-costing component, with 30% of current health expenditures (CHE. Spending on outpatient care was the second highest-costing component and accounted for about 23% of the CHE. Household spending accounted for about 22% of CHE (equivalent to US$187 per capita, compared to an average of 20% of CHE of OECD countries. Dubai spent 0.02% of CHE on long-term care, compared to an average of 11% of CHE of OECD countries. Dubai spent about 6% of CHE on prevention and public health services, compared to an average of 3.2% of CHE of OECD countries. Conclusion: The findings point to potential opportunities for growth and improvement in several health policy issues in Dubai, including increasing focus and funding of preventive services; shifting from inpatient care to day surgery, outpatient, and home-based services and strengthening long-term care; and introducing cost-containment measures for pharmaceuticals. More investment in the translation of

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Breast cancer screening can reduce morbidity and mortality and improve the survival rate for this malignancy. Low participation in screening programs has been attributable to many factors including lack of knowledge. The aim of this study was to assess breast cancer screening knowledge, attitudes and practices among women of screening age (≥40 years old in the city of Al Ain, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2013 using the Breast Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM. Four out of twelve cultural and religious community centers in Al Ain city were randomly selected. Two hundred and forty seven women were interviewed. Chi Square test and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Despite the increase in the uptake of screening modalities in our study group, a lack of knowledge about breast cancer screening is still evident. Almost half (44.8% of women who never had a Clinical Breast Exam (CBE and 44.1% of women who never had a mammography expressed a lack of knowledge about the existence of these screening techniques. Nearly one third of the participants interpreted the presence of a breast lump incorrectly and, moreover, expressed fewer worries about the nature of the lump than would normally be expected. CONCLUSIONS: The National screening program needs to be improved and directed towards more efficient and targeted utilization of resources. Healthcare professionals play a major role in alerting women to the importance of periodic screening.

Our aim was to establish the phylogenetic relation of H9N2 avian viruses in the Middle East to other Asian H9N2 lineages by characterization of 7 viruses isolated from UnitedArabEmirates (2000-2003). All these viruses had an additional basic amino acid at the hemagglutinin-connecting peptide; 6 contained a mutation associated with increased affinity toward human-like sialic acid substrates. The viruses' surface glycoproteins and most internal genes were >90% similar to those of A/Quail/Hong Kong/G1/97 (H9N2) lineage. The hemadsorbing site of neuraminidase had up to 4 amino acid substitutions, as do human pandemic viruses. M2 sequence analysis revealed amino acid changes at 2 positions, with increasing resistance to amantadine in cell culture. They replicated efficiently in inoculated chickens and were successfully transmitted to contacts. They continue to maintain H5N1-like genes and may augment the spread of H5N1 viruses through regional co-circulation and inapparent infection. These viruses may present as potential pandemic candidates themselves. PMID:17157891

The study investigated the association between food and drink consumption and the caries experience among young children in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates. A one-stage cluster sample was used to select children who were 5 or 6 yr of age. Clinical examinations for caries were conducted. Parents completed questionnaires seeking information on dietary habits. Principal components analysis was used to derive a summary score for the dietary variables (designated 'snack consumption level') and thus overcome the multicollinearity problems associated with using multiple dietary variables. Dental examination and questionnaire data were obtained for 1,036 children (79.9% participation rate). The overall mean number of decayed, missing or filled teeth (dmft) was 4.5. Snacking three or more times per day was associated with a dmft score that was almost one-third higher than the dmft score for children who snacked only once daily. One-third of children had a low overall snack consumption level (41% moderate and 25% high). There was a consistent dmft gradient across those categories. The severity of Early Childhood Caries (ECC) in young Ajman children is high, with dietary habits being important determinants. Cariogenic snack consumption can be represented using a summary exposure variable that appears to be valid. Young children in Ajman would benefit from health-promotion strategies directed towards appropriate dietary practices.

Henna is very popular in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE); it is part of the culture and traditions. Allergy to natural henna is not usual; however the addition of para-phenylenediamine (PPD) to the natural henna increases the risk of allergic contact dermatitis. The objectives of the study were to identify the presence and concentration of PPD in henna available in UAE. Fifteen henna salons were selected randomly from three cities in UAE. Twenty five henna samples were acquired from these selected salons. The presence of PPD in henna samples was determined qualitatively and quantitatively using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The study showed that PPD was present in all of the black henna samples at concentrations ranging between 0.4% and 29.5% and higher than that recommended for hair dyes in most of the black henna samples. The presence of PPD in the black henna increases the risk of allergic contact dermatitis among users of black henna and a number of cases have already been reported in UAE.

Full Text Available Objectives. The objective of the present study was to assess shisha smoking among dental school students in Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. In addition, the role of suggested barriers and enabling factors in shisha smoking was also evaluated. Methods. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted at the College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, between February and May 2016. The questions were adapted from previously published water pipe smoking studies. The collected data were analyzed to identify the relationship between shisha smoking and sociodemographic characteristics. Relevant questions were further categorized as enabling factors and barriers for shisha smoking. Results. Three enabling questionnaire items related to social environment were significantly associated with an increased risk of being a current smoker. The most powerful is peer pressure (“friends smoke shisha”, which increased the odds ratio of shisha smoking 11.3 times, followed by smoker sibling with increase in odd ratio by 4.52 times, then the belief of social acceptance with increase in odd ratio by 4.31 times. Conclusion. Shisha smoking is a serious problem among university students. Any intervention program in the university curricula should consider teaching students that shisha is no less risky than cigarettes and is addictive.

The present study describes the phytochemical profile and antimicrobial activity of Sesuvium portulacastrum. Three extracts of S. portulacastrum obtained by extraction in aqueous, ethanolic and dichloromethane solvents, respectively, were compared for their antimicrobial activity and ethanolic extract further subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis to find out the nature of the compounds responsible for the antimicrobial activity. The antibacterial activities were assessed by measuring the diameter of the inhibition zones, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) values. Compared to the aqueous and dichloromethane extract, the ethanolic extract showed better antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli, indicating its potential application related to noscomial infections. GC-MS results revealed 22, 23-Dihydrostigmasterol, Benzoic acid, 3,4,5-trihydroxy-(Gallic acid), (2R,3R)-(-)-Epicatechin and Capsaicin in the ethanolic extract to be the molecules responsible for the antimicrobial activity of S. portulacastrum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on analysis of antimicrobial components from S. portulacastrum in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), and our results confer the utility of this plant extract in developing a novel broad spectrum antimicrobial agent.

Full Text Available The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of organic food consumption in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE, examine the consumers’ perceptions of the effects of organic foods on human health and the environment, and investigate the factors that limit the consumption of organic foods. Five hundred questionnaires were randomly distributed to communities in the UAE from October to December 2013, and 266 questionnaires were completed and returned giving us a response rate of 53%. Our findings indicated that organic food is more recognized among the youth. Furthermore, organic fish, fruits, and chocolates are consumed more than other types of organic foods. Health and environmental awareness are the main reasons that people consume organic foods. Moreover, the development of society, an individual’s social level and peers, and advertisements encourage people to buy organic foods by presenting the consumption of organic foods as a new trendy lifestyle that generates a type of prestige. Conversely, cost, availability, shelf life, taste, and a lack of knowledge are the main factors that limit the consumption of organic foods. We recommend that organic foods should be highlighted more through research, media, lectures, and health campaigns to enhance the public’s knowledge of organic foods. Moreover, we believe that the cost of organic foods could be reduced by increasing the number of standard local organic food farms throughout the UAE.

To compare the resistance pattern of common bacterial pathogens to commonly used drugs. Information and statistics of antimicrobial resistance for 1994 and 2005 were collected from the 3 hospital microbiology laboratories in the UnitedArabEmirates. The resistance patterns of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to several front-line drugs were estimated. All laboratories used automatic machines (Vitek 2), which identifies and determines minimum inhibitory concentrations simultaneously. Increased resistance was observed for Staphylococcus aureus, (n=315, 2005) to erythromycin (approximately 6 fold, Al-Ain Hospital only), cloxacillin (Al-Ain Hospital), and gentamicin (more than 3-10 folds in all hospitals). Increased penicillin resistance was not observed. For the common Gram-negative organisms, there was a high resistance to ampicillin, gentamicin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, and imipenem, which seemed to increase for Escherichia coli, (by 4.2-200%, n=305, 2005); however, there was very little resistance to imipenem (0.4%) in Tawam Hospital. Variable resistance patterns were obtained for Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=316, 2005) and Klebsiella spp,(n=316, 2005) against aminoglycosides, cephalosporins, ciprofloxacin, and norfloxacin. Overall, there was an obvious increase in resistance of bacteria and the prevalence rate to a number of drugs from 1-120 folds during the 11-year period. (author)

Mango is affected by different decline disorders causing significant losses to mango growers. In the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), the pathogen was isolated from all tissues sampled from diseased trees affected by Lasiodiplodia theobromae. Symptoms at early stages of the disease included general wilting appearance of mango trees, and dieback of twigs. In advanced stages, the disease symptoms were also characterized by the curling and drying of leaves, leading to complete defoliation of the tree and discolouration of vascular regions of the stems and branches. To substantially reduce the devastating impact of dieback disease on mango, the fungus was first identified based on its morphological and cultural characteristics. Target regions of 5.8S rRNA (ITS) and elongation factor 1-α (EF1-α) genes of the pathogen were amplified and sequenced. We also found that the systemic chemical fungicides, Score®, Cidely® Top, and Penthiopyrad®, significantly inhibited the mycelial growth of L. theobromae both in vitro and in the greenhouse. Cidely® Top proved to be a highly effective fungicide against L. theobromae dieback disease also under field conditions. Altogether, the morphology of the fruiting structures, molecular identification and pathogenicity tests confirm that the causal agent of the mango dieback disease in the UAE is L. theobromae. PMID:29053600

Objectives. We sought to determine cardiovascular risk factor prevalence rates among adults in Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates. Methods. We used self-reported indicators, anthropometric measures, and blood tests to screen 50 138 adults aged 18 years or older taking part in a population-wide cardiovascular screening program. Results. Participants’ mean age was 36.82 years (SD = 14.3); 43% were men. Risk factor prevalence rates were as follows: obesity, 35%; overweight, 32%; central obesity, 55%; diabetes, 18%; prediabetes, 27%; dyslipidemia, 44%; and hypertension, 23.1%. In addition, 26% of men were smokers, compared with 0.8% of women. Age-standardized diabetes and prediabetes rates were 25% and 30%, respectively, and age-standardized rates of obesity and overweight were 41% and 34%. Conclusions. This population-wide cardiovascular screening program demonstrated a high cardiovascular burden for our small sample in Abu Dhabi. The data form a baseline against which interventions can be implemented and progress monitored as part of the population-wide Abu Dhabi Cardiovascular Disease Program. PMID:21940918

Inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) are frequently encountered by physicians in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). However, the mutations underlying a large number of these disorders have not yet been determined. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the mutations underlying a number of IEM disorders among UAE residents from both national and expatriate families. A case series of patients from 34 families attending the metabolic clinic at Tawam Hospital were clinically evaluated, and molecular testing was carried out to determine their causative mutations. The mutation analysis was carried out at molecular genetics diagnostic laboratories. Thirty-eight mutations have been identified as responsible for twenty IEM disorders, including in the metabolism of amino acids, lipids, steroids, metal transport and mitochondrial energy metabolism, and lysosomal storage disorders. Nine of the identified mutations are novel, including two missense mutations, three premature stop codons and four splice site mutations. Mutation analysis of IEM disorders in the UAE population has an important impact on molecular diagnosis and genetic counseling for families affected by these disorders. PMID:22106832

Introduction Diabetes self-management education is a cornerstone of diabetes care. However, many diabetics in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) lack sufficient knowledge about their disease due to illiteracy. Thus, before considering any possible intervention it was imperative to assess present knowledge, attitudes, and practices of patients towards the management of diabetes. Methods A random sample of 575 DM patients was selected from diabetes outpatient's clinics of Tawam and Al-Ain hospitals in Al-Ain city (UAE) during 2006–2007, and their knowledge attitude and practice assessed using a questionnaire modified from the Michigan Diabetes Research Training Center instrument. Results Thirty-one percent of patients had poor knowledge of diabetes. Seventy-two had negative attitudes towards having the disease and 57% had HbA1c levels reflecting poor glycemic control. Only seventeen percent reported having adequate blood sugar control, while 10% admitted non-compliance with their medications. Knowledge, practice and attitude scores were all statistically significantly positively, but rather weakly, associated, but none of these scores was significantly correlated with HbA1c. Conclusions The study showed low levels of diabetes awareness but positive attitudes towards the importance of DM care and satisfactory diabetes practices in the UAE. Programs to increase patients' awareness about DM are essential for all diabetics in the UAE in order to improve their understanding, compliance and management and, thereby, their ability to cope with the disease. PMID:23341913

Zika virus (ZIKV) disease has become a major public health concern. Although there are no reported cases of ZIKV disease in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), there is a potential risk of transmission due to large expatriate population and high influx of international travelers. This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge of ZIKV disease among the students of a medical and health sciences university in the UAE. Their knowledge of ZIKV disease was assessed using a specially designed, pretested, and validated questionnaire. Of the 500 respondents included in the final analysis, 314 (62.8%) respondents presented with poor knowledge of ZIKV disease. The mean knowledge score of the study population was 10.48 ± 2.48 out of a maximum of 17. Gender, college and year of study, nationality and attendance in lecture/conference/workshop on Zika were significantly associated with the level of knowledge. The males possessed significantly ( P = 0.046) better knowledge as compared to the females. Students of medical college had significantly ( P = 0.005) better knowledge as compared to students of other colleges. The level of knowledge improved significantly ( P = 0.026) as the year of study progressed. There is a need for medical and paramedical students to update their knowledge of ZIKV disease as they are the future health-care providers who will be responsible for creating awareness about such outbreaks and their preventive measures.

Full Text Available Purpose. To examine the role of air quality in relation to chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, wheeze, and dry cough among adolescents from the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. Methods. A survey was administered on 6,363 adolescents from 9 UAE regions. Data consists of demographic, socioeconomic, residential, and behavioural variables, such as location of residence, residing near industry/gas stations/dumpsites/construction sites, residing near overhead power line/plants, exposure to tobacco, residential exposure, ethnicity, concern over air pollution, smoking, and purposely smelling gasoline fumes/glue/correctors/car exhaust/burning black ants. Logistic regression modeling was used to determine significant predictors of respiratory health. Results. Asthma prevalence was 12.3%, followed by chronic bronchitis (1.8% and emphysema (0.5%. Overall 12.2% reported wheeze and 34.8% reported a dry nocturnal cough in the past year. Multivariate analyses suggest that sex is a significant predictor of asthma and dry cough. Exposure to tobacco and arts/crafts/ceramics/stain is significant predictor of respiratory health. Tobacco smoking and purposely smelling gasoline fumes/glue/correctors/car exhaust/burning black ants are significant predictors of wheeze and dry cough. Conclusions. This study suggests that exposure to air quality and behavioral factors such as smoking and purposely smelling gasoline fumes, glue, correctors, car exhaust, or burning black ants are significant predictors of respiratory health among UAE adolescents.

Assessment of one's academic capabilities is essential to being an effective, self-directed, life-long learner. The primary objective of this study was to analyze self-assessment accuracy of medical students attending the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UnitedArabEmirates University, by examining their ability to assess their own performance on an MCQ examination. 1 st and 2 nd year medical students (n = 235) self-assessed pre and post-examination performance were compared with objectively measured scores (actual examination performance). Associations between accuracy of score prediction (pre and post assessment), and students' gender, year of education, perceived preparation, confidence and anxiety were also determined. Expected mark correlated significantly with objectively assessed marks (r = 0.407; P self-assessment accuracy. Findings reinforce existing evidence indicating that medical students are poor self-assessors. There are potentially multiple explanations for misjudgment of this multidimensional construct that require further investigation and change in learning cultures. The study offers clear targets for change aimed at optimizing self-assessment capabilities.

Full Text Available The cultural dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance is analysed in this study of an introduction to blended learning for international students. Content analysis was conducted on the survey narratives collected from three cohorts of management undergraduates in the UnitedArabEmirates. Interpretation of certainty with blended learning was found in: student skills with technology; student acknowledgement of course organisation; and student appreciation of online feedback. Uncertainty with the introduction of blended learning was found: when membership was assigned for group work, higher quality research methods were introduced; where course structure lacked detail, increased time was required for new and different online activities. These international students, from countries with a high score on Uncertainty Avoidance, exhibited that dimension when introduced to blended learning. The implications of these findings are discussed, and strategies suggested for introducing blended learning to international students. The limitations of the study are considered, and a direction for future research is suggested. This is the first study on undergraduates in the Middle East for the effects of a cultural dimension when introducing blended learning. The findings increase the body of knowledge that relates to learning technology in the international business classroom.

Background Cephalosporins are one of the most commonly used antibiotics in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Few studies have been carried out to evaluate the antibiotic utilization pattern in UAE in spite of the obvious increase in cephalosporins resistance during the past decade. Objective To assess the prescriptions pattern of cephalosporins among physicians at a secondary care hospital in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Method This observational prospective study was carried out during October 2013 to April 2014. The data of in patients were documented in the predesigned patient profile form and was analyzed for patient's, drug's and drug's therapy related parameters. Results The 3rd generation cephalosporins constituted 83.6 % of the prescriptions, with ceftriaxone being the most commonly used one (81.1 %). They were mainly prescribed for the treatment of the lower respiratory tract infections (60.2 %). Seven (3.5 %) different ADRs linked to cephalosporin use were observed ranging from oral thrush to clostridium difficile infection. A total of 1039 antimicrobial and nonantimicrobial medications were prescribed concomitantly with cephalosporins. Conclusion The 3rd generation cephalosporins were commonly prescribed by parenteral route. Thus, there is a strong need for rationalizing their use to preserve their efficacy and prevent the development of resistance in the region.

Television viewing and videogame use (TV/VG) appear to be associated with some childhood behavioral problems. There are no studies addressing this problem in the UnitedArabEmirates. One hundred ninety-seven school children (mean age, 8.7 ± 2.1 years) were assessed. Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) subscale scores and socio-demographic characteristics were compared between children who were involved with TV/VG more than 2 hours/day and those involved less than 2 hours/day (the recommended upper limit by The American Academy of Pediatrics). Thirty-seven percent of children who were involved with TV/VG time of more than 2 hours/day scored significantly higher on CBCL syndrome scales of withdrawn, social problems, attention problems, delinquent behavior, aggressive behavior, internalizing problems, externalizing problems and the CBCL total scores compared with their counterparts. Moreover, these children were younger in birth order and had fewer siblings. After controlling for these confounders using logistic regression, we found that TV/VG time more than 2 hours/day was positively associated with withdrawn (p = 0.008), attention problem (p = 0.037), externalizing problems (p = 0.007), and CBCL total (p = 0.014). Involvement with TV/VG for more than 2 hours/day is associated with more childhood behavioral problems. Counteracting negative effects of the over-involvement with TV/VG in children requires increased parental awareness.

The rapid growth in the demand for shark products, particularly fins, has led to the worldwide overexploitation of many elasmobranch species. Although there are growing concerns about this largely unregulated and unmonitored trade, little information still exists about its dynamics, the species involved and the impact of this pressure on stocks in various regions. Our study provides the first attempt at characterizing the trade in shark products from the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), the fourth largest exporter in the world of raw dried shark fins to Hong Kong. A review of trade records and informal interviews with local traders confirmed that the UAE is being used as hub in the broader North Indian Ocean region for the trade in shark products with the Emirati fishery minimally contributing to this trade. Results based on morphological identification of sharks (n= 12,069) and DNA barcoding of tissue samples (n= 655) indicated that the trade was made up of at least 37 species. The most abundant families represented at the Dubai study site were the Sphyrnidae (9.3%), Lamnidae (9%) and Alopiidae (5.9%). While information was mostly limited to shark products originating from the UAE and Oman, results indicated that 45.3% of species traded were considered to be at high risk of global extinction based on the IUCN Red List Global Assessments. Since many of the species found during this survey are likely part of stocks shared with other countries, regional cooperation and management will be crucial to ensure their long term survival.

Sustainable development requires implementing suitable policies integrating several competing objectives on economic, environmental, energy and social criteria. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) using goal programming is a popular and widely used technique to study decision problems in the face of multiple conflicting objectives. MCDA assists policy makers by providing clarity in choosing between alternatives for strategic planning and investments. In this paper, we propose a weighted goal programming model that integrates efficient allocation of resources to simultaneously achieve sustainability related goals on GDP growth, electricity consumption and GHG emissions. We validate the model with application to key economic sectors of the UnitedArabEmirates to achieve sustainable development goals by the year 2030. The model solution provides a quantitative justification and a basis for comparison in planning future energy requirements and an indispensable requirement to include renewable sources to satisfy long-term energy requirements. - Highlights: • Multi-criteria model for achieving sustainability goals by year 2030. • Integrates criteria on electricity, GDP, GHG emissions for optimal labor allocation. • Future electricity demand requires contribution from renewable sources • Enables planning for long term investments towards energy sustainability.

Full Text Available In late 2011, the Higher Colleges of Technology, a higher education institution in the UnitedArabEmirates, implemented Vufind as the search interface for the libraries’ resources. Before launching Vufind in the 2012 academic year, usability testing occurred across three campuses to test the functionality of the search interface features. Twenty-one participants, including Emirati students and expatriate faculty, were tested using a performance based assessment along with think-aloud protocol, which was recorded using Camtasia screen capture software. As a result of the testing several features of Vufind were customized including language, layout and prioritization of results. The current study builds on the limited existing body of literature on Vufind, which has previously indicated a number of design elements and practices which should optimize user experience. Several key findings are consistent with and confirm results from prior studies with findings from this study adding to the literature by observing how or why linguistic orientation affects user behavior in search systems.

The improvement of children's oral health, a world global health target, is essential to general health and quality of life. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of mothers toward their children's oral health in Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). A cross-sectional interview-based study was conducted among 383 mothers of preschool children (average age 3.49 [+1.63 years]) attending Sharjah Dental Center, UAE. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software for Windows, version 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Adequate knowledge was found among 58.2% of mothers, 99% exhibited excellent attitude, and only 20% followed good practices toward their children's oral health. Poor knowledge and practice of mothers were significantly associated with mothers' occupation and education. Employed mothers had a significantly higher score of knowledge. Mothers with secondary education and university qualifications had significantly higher scores of practice compared with mothers with primary education. Although mothers had better than average knowledge and excellent attitude toward their children's oral health issues; most of them carried out improper practices. Mothers' educational and employment backgrounds were significant influencing factors.

Full Text Available Zika virus (ZIKV disease has become a major public health concern. Although there are no reported cases of ZIKV disease in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE, there is a potential risk of transmission due to large expatriate population and high influx of international travelers. This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge of ZIKV disease among the students of a medical and health sciences university in the UAE. Their knowledge of ZIKV disease was assessed using a specially designed, pretested, and validated questionnaire. Of the 500 respondents included in the final analysis, 314 (62.8% respondents presented with poor knowledge of ZIKV disease. The mean knowledge score of the study population was 10.48 ± 2.48 out of a maximum of 17. Gender, college and year of study, nationality and attendance in lecture/conference/workshop on Zika were significantly associated with the level of knowledge. The males possessed significantly (P = 0.046 better knowledge as compared to the females. Students of medical college had significantly (P = 0.005 better knowledge as compared to students of other colleges. The level of knowledge improved significantly (P = 0.026 as the year of study progressed. There is a need for medical and paramedical students to update their knowledge of ZIKV disease as they are the future health-care providers who will be responsible for creating awareness about such outbreaks and their preventive measures.

Full Text Available Several studies have shown concern over nitrate and nitrite contamination of prepared infant formula used by infants less than six months old, as it may lead to methemoglobinemia and death. One possible source of contamination is through the use of improperly treated drinking water. Contamination of water could result from fertilizers and manure runoff, not fully treated and released human and industrial waste, or from disinfection processes. In the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE, bottled water is the major source of drinking water and may be used for the preparation of infant formula. Therefore, in this study, several bottled water brands that are sold on the UAE market, and could be used for preparation of infant formula, were tested for nitrate and nitrite and other anions to show their compatibility with the permissible levels of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA, United States Food and Drug Administration/Code of Federal Regulations (U.S. FDA/CFR, and other international organizations. All the bottled water samples demonstrated nitrate, nitrite, and other anions levels below the permissible levels accepted by U.S. EPA, U.S. FDA/CFR, and other international organizations, except for one sample that showed nitrite levels exceeding the European Commission and Drinking Water Directive (EC/DWD permissible levels. Such study sheds light on the quality of bottled water sold not only in the UAE and the region, but also in other countries, such as France, since some of them are imported. In addition, the results shed light on the effectiveness of the treatment processes and possible sources of infant formula contamination that can affect the health of infants.

Full Text Available Airborne particulate matter (PM pollutants were sampled from an urban background site in Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates. The fine fraction (PM2.5 (particulates with aerodynamic diameters of less than 2.5 μm was collected on 47-mm Teflon filters and analyzed using a combined set of non-destructive techniques in order to provide better understanding of the sources of pollutants and their interaction during transport in the atmosphere. These techniques included gravimetric analysis, equivalent black carbon (EBC, X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Generally, the PM2.5 concentrations are within the limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO and the United States (US Environmental Protection Agency. The EBC content is in the range of 10–12% of the total PM concentration (2–4 µg m−3, while S (as ammonium sulfate, Ca (as calcite, gypsum, and calcium carbonate, Si (as quartz, Fe, and Al were the major sources of PM pollution. EBC, ammonium sulfate, Zn, V, and Mn originate from anthropogenic sources such as fossil fuel burning, traffic, and industrial emissions. Natural elements such as Ca, Fe, Al, Si, and Ti are due to natural sources such as crustal materials (enhanced during dust episodes and sea salts. The average contribution of natural sources in the total PM2.5 mass concentration over the sampling period is about 40%, and the contribution of the secondary inorganic compounds is about 27% (mainly ammonium sulfate in our case. The remaining 22% is assumed to be secondary organic compounds.

Introduction A national health account (NHA) provides a systematic approach to mapping the flow of health sector funds within a specified health system over a defined time period. This article attempts to present a profile of health system financing in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates using data from NHAs, and to compare the functional structures of financing schemes in Dubai with schemes in Qatar and selected member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Methods The author analyzed secondary data published in NHAs of Dubai and Qatar and data collected by the OECD countries and publicly available from Eurostat (Statistical Office of the European Union) of 25 OECD countries for comparative analysis. All health financing indicators used were as defined in the international System of Health Accounts (SHA). Results In Dubai, spending on inpatient care was the highest-costing component, with 30% of current health expenditures (CHE). Spending on outpatient care was the second highest-costing component and accounted for about 23% of the CHE. Household spending accounted for about 22% of CHE (equivalent to US$187 per capita), compared to an average of 20% of CHE of OECD countries. Dubai spent 0.02% of CHE on long-term care, compared to an average of 11% of CHE of OECD countries. Dubai spent about 6% of CHE on prevention and public health services, compared to an average of 3.2% of CHE of OECD countries. Conclusion The findings point to potential opportunities for growth and improvement in several health policy issues in Dubai, including increasing focus and funding of preventive services; shifting from inpatient care to day surgery, outpatient, and home-based services and strengthening long-term care; and introducing cost-containment measures for pharmaceuticals. More investment in the translation of NHA data into policy is suggested for future researchers. PMID:25750545

The extensive use of computers as medium of teaching and learning in universities necessitates introspection into the extent of computer related health disorders among student population. This study was undertaken to assess the pattern of computer usage and related visual problems, among University students in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates. A total of 500 Students studying in Gulf Medical University, Ajman and Ajman University of Science and Technology were recruited into this study. Demographic characteristics, pattern of usage of computers and associated visual symptoms were recorded in a validated self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine the significance of the observed differences between the variables. The level of statistical significance was at P computer users were headache - 53.3% (251/471), burning sensation in the eyes - 54.8% (258/471) and tired eyes - 48% (226/471). Female students were found to be at a higher risk. Nearly 72% of students reported frequent interruption of computer work. Headache caused interruption of work in 43.85% (110/168) of the students while tired eyes caused interruption of work in 43.5% (98/168) of the students. When the screen was viewed at distance more than 50 cm, the prevalence of headaches decreased by 38% (50-100 cm - OR: 0.62, 95% of the confidence interval [CI]: 0.42-0.92). Prevalence of tired eyes increased by 89% when screen filters were not used (OR: 1.894, 95% CI: 1.065-3.368). High prevalence of vision related problems was noted among university students. Sustained periods of close screen work without screen filters were found to be associated with occurrence of the symptoms and increased interruptions of work of the students. There is a need to increase the ergonomic awareness among students and corrective measures need to be implemented to reduce the impact of computer related vision problems.

A combination of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) climate and the increased size of the super jumbo, Airbus A380, have exceeded the working capacity for current ground cooling techniques. These are evident when the aircraft is being prepared for flight and when in the hanger under maintenance with internal cabin temperatures reported at above 30 °C. The existing system used, delivers air at 11.6 °C after which the cabin temperature is still at a high temperature of 31 °C and unable to cool down due to the temperature rises caused by climate conditions and heat dissipation from the electronics in the cabin. The CFD based temperature profile results highlighted that a decrease in inlet temperature to −18 °C at a constant pressure and mass flow rate is sufficient to provide efficient cooling to the cabin at 22 °C. Boundary conditions are determined to specify a new effective cooling system and resolve the ground cooling issue. - Highlights: ► Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis was carried out on the aircraft cabin. ► Existing system delivers air at 11.6 °C. ► Cabin temperature is still at a high temperature of 31 °C. ► The inlet temperature of the air should be −18 °C using the existing system. ► Air is delivered at 6.5 kg/s, to cool the cabin to a comfortable temperature of 22 °C.

In order to control the tobacco scourge, an array of measures is required. Among them is focusing on adolescent relationships as it has been shown that being in a close relationship with a smoker or a non smoker will in the long run be a major factor in deciding whether the individual adopts smoking for initial non-smokers or ceases the habit for initial smokers. To assess the attitude of youth towards other smokers and towards marrying a smoker. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 415 students from five universities in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Self-administered structured questionnaires were used for data collection. The Chi square test was used to detect significant differences between frequencies. Of the 415 participants who provided their gender information, 99 (24%) were males and 314 (76%) were females. Of all the participants, 83.5% were not willing to marry smokers, while 16.5% were willing. Of those whose parents smoked (106) 68% did not like it when their parents smoked, 13.6% had no opinion, 17.5% did not mind, while the other 1% had other thoughts. Of those whose close friends smoked, 43.4% did not like it, 16.2% did not have any opinion, 36.9% did not mind while 3.5% had other thoughts. Most participants, both males and females are not willing to marry smokers and prefer to have non-smokers as spouses. Also, smokers are seen as less attractive by both genders in contrast to what appears as popular beliefs amongst youngsters and what is depicted in tobacco advertisements. Tobacco control activities can be undertaken in the community and colleges by incorporating students as facilitators.

Full Text Available To determine the pattern of drug prescription by consultants in a private hospital in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates, 1190 prescriptions were collected from the hospital’s pharmacy over 30 days. In total,2659 drugs were prescribed. The mean number of drugs per encounter was 2.2. Only 4.4% of alldrugs prescribed were generic. Polypharmacy was observed in only 7.5% of all encounters.Information about the prescribing physician and the patient was invariably deficient. Name of patient,age, and gender were absent in 2.9%, 9.7%, and 12% of prescriptions, respectively. In addition, noneof the prescriptions mentioned address, diagnosis, or allergy of the patient. Name of physician,signature, speciality and license or registration number were omitted in 12.2%, 10.3%, 20.3%, and54.9% of prescriptions. The most commonly prescribed therapeutic classes of drugs (and principaldrug in each class were as follows: 23.4% non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, Diclofenacsodium being 51.6%, 21.4% antibiotics (amoxicillin-clavulanate 13.5%, and 11.5% gastrointestinaldrugs (GI, Hyoscine-N-butylbromide 28.1%. Other therapeutic classes included endocrine drugs(6.1%, vitamin supplements (5.9%, nasal decongestants (4%, antihistaminics (3.8% andcardiovascular drugs (2.6%. Antibiotic injections accounted for 7.4% of all antibiotics prescribed,which was equivalent to 1.6% of all prescriptions. Other agents prescribed in small proportions ofencounters collectively amounted to 21.3%. This study reveals the prescription trends, and indicatespossible areas of improvement in prescription practice.

Spousal concordance is defined as similar behaviours and associated health statuses between spouses. This study aimed to identify the concordance of diabetes mellitus (DM) and related variables among genetically unrelated couples in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). This cross-sectional study included 270 married women attending either the Mushairef Health Center or the Gulf Medical College Hospital in Ajman between May and November 2012. A validated questionnaire was designed to determine sociodemographic characteristics and a history or family history of DM, hypertension, coronary artery disease or dyslipidaemia among the women and their husbands. The weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference, fasting blood sugar and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels of all women were measured. Of the women, 39.3% of those with diabetic husbands and 39.9% of those with non-diabetic husbands were diabetic themselves (P >0.050). The prevalence of DM spousal concordance was 17.8%. A history of hypertension, coronary artery disease and dyslipidaemia was significantly more frequent among women whose husbands had a history of the same conditions (P = 0.001, 0.040 and 0.002, respectively). Spousal concordance of abnormal glycaemia among non-diabetic women with diabetic husbands was significant (P = 0.001). Having a diabetic husband (P = 0.006) and being obese (P = 0.009) were the only significant predictors of hyperglycaemia among non-diabetic women after controlling for confounding factors. There was significant concordance of abnormal glycaemia among non-diabetic women with diabetic husbands. The spouses of diabetic patients may therefore be a target population for regular hyperglycaemia and DM screening.

Background Over the last 30 years the citizens of the UnitedArabEmirates have experienced major changes in life-style secondary to increased affluence. Currently, 1 in 5 adults have diabetes mellitus, but the associations (clustering) among risk factors, as well as the relevance of the concept of the metabolic syndrome, in this population is unknown. Aim To investigate the prevalence and associations among cardiovascular risk factors in this population, and explore to what extent associations can be explained by the metabolic syndrome according to ATP-III criteria. Method A community based survey, of conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease was conducted among 817 national residents of Al Ain city, UAE. These factors were fasting blood sugar, blood pressure, lipid profile, BMI, waist circumference, smoking, or CHD family history. Odds ratios between risks factors, both unadjusted and adjusted for age and sex as well as adjusted for age, sex, and metabolic syndrome were calculated. Results Various risk factors were positively associated in this population; associations that are mostly unexplained by confounding by age and sex. For example, hypertension and diabetes were still strongly related (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.7–3.7) after adjustment. An increased waist circumference showed similar relationship with hypertension (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.5–3.5). Diabetes was related to an increased BMI (OR 1.5; 96% CI 1.0–2.3). Smoking was also associated with diabetes (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.0–3.3). Further adjustment for metabolic syndrome reduced some associations but several remained. Conclusion In this population risk-factors cluster, but associations do not appear to be explained by the presence/absence of the ATP-III metabolic syndrome. Associations provide valuable information in planning interventions for screening and management. PMID:19371412

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) government aspires to build a world class health system to improve the quality of healthcare and the health outcomes for its population. To achieve this it has implemented extensive health system reforms in the past 10 years. The nature, extent and success of these reforms has not recently been comprehensively reviewed. In this paper we review the progress and outcomes of health systems reform in the UAE. We searched relevant databases and other sources to identify published and unpublished studies and other data available between 01 January 2002 and 31 March 2016. Eligible studies were appraised and data were descriptively and narratively synthesized. Seventeen studies were included covering the following themes: the UAE health system, population health, the burden of disease, healthcare financing, healthcare workforce and the impact of reforms. Few, if any, studies prospectively set out to define and measure outcomes. A central part of the reforms has been the introduction of mandatory private health insurance, the development of the private sector and the separation of planning and regulatory responsibilities from provider functions. The review confirmed the commitment of the UAE to build a world class health system but amongst researchers and commentators opinion is divided on whether the reforms have been successful although patient satisfaction with services appears high and there are some positive indications including increasing coverage of hospital accreditation. The UAE has a rapidly growing population with a unique age and sex distribution, there have been notable successes in improving child and maternal mortality and extending life expectancy but there are high levels of chronic diseases. The relevance of the reforms for public health and their impact on the determinants of chronic diseases have been questioned. From the existing research literature it is not possible to conclude whether UAE health system reforms are

Background Unintentional falls are a major cause of morbidity and mortality with a significant burden on victims, families, and societies. We aimed to study the mechanism, risk factors, and outcome of hospitalized patients with fall-related injuries in order to propose preventive measures. Methods Fall-related injured patients who were admitted to Al Ain Hospital, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) for more than 24 hours or who died after arrival to the hospital, were studied over 3 years. Demography, location and time of injury, affected body regions, hospital and ICU stay, and outcome were analyzed. Results 882 patients were studied, 82% were males, and 22% were less than 19 years old. Majority were from the Indian subcontinent. The most common location for fall injuries was work. Patients injured at work were older and mainly non-UAE nationals (p

PHENOMENON: Medical residents' satisfaction with the quality of training for medical residency training specialists is one of the core measures of training program success. It will also therefore contribute to the integrity of healthcare in the long run. Yet there is a paucity of research describing medical residents' satisfaction in the Middle East, and there are no published studies that measure the satisfaction of medical residents trained within the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). This makes it difficult to develop a quality residency training program that might meet the needs of both physicians and society. The authors designed a questionnaire to assess medical residents' satisfaction with the Dubai residency training program in order to identify insufficiencies in the training, clinical, and educational aspects. The survey was a self-report questionnaire composed of different subscales covering sociodemographic and educational/academic profile of the residents along with their overall satisfaction of their training, curriculum, work environment, peer teamwork, and their personal opinion on their medical career. Respondents showed a substantial level of satisfaction with the residency training. The vast majority of residents (80%, N = 88) believe that their residency program curriculum and rotation was "good," "very good," or "excellent." Areas of dissatisfaction included salary, excessive paperwork during rotations, and harassment. INSIGHTS: This is the first report that studies the satisfaction of medical residents in all specialties in Dubai, UAE. Our findings provide preliminary evidence on the efficiency of different modifications applied to the residency program in UAE. To our knowledge, there has not been any previous study in the Middle East that has analyzed this aspect of medical residents from different specialties. The authors believe that this report can be used as a baseline to monitor the effectiveness of interventions applied in the future toward

Full Text Available Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder that causes abnormal hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen and is made of two proteins from four α-globin genes and two β-globin genes. A defect in one or more of these genes causes thalassemia. The treatment of thalassemia mostly depends on life-long blood transfusions and removal of excessive iron from the blood stream. Such tremendous blood consumption puts pressure on the national blood stock in many countries. In particular, in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE, various forms of thalassemia prevention have been used and hence, the substantial reduction of the thalassemia major population has been achieved. However, the thalassemia carrier population still remains high, which leads to the potential increase in the thalassemia major population through carrier-carrier marriages. In this work, we investigate the long-term impact and efficacy of thalassemia prevention measures via mathematical modeling at a population level. To our best knowledge, this type of assessment has not been done before and there is no mathematical model that has investigated such a problem for thalassemia or any blood disorders at a population level. By using UAE data, we perform numerical simulations of our model and conduct sensitivity analysis of parameter values to see which parameter values affect most the dynamics of our model. We discover that the prevention measures can contribute to reduce the prevalence of the disease only in the short term but not eradicate the disease in the long term.

There has been a growing awareness that patients are subject to injuries that can be prevented as a direct consequence of health care. Error disclosure is an effective technique to restore the lost trust with the health care system. The current study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale to determine the factors facilitating the disclosure of health professionals in health organizations. This study had a cross-sectional design that consisted of 722 responses (response rate of 68.3%) from 1 private and 1 public hospital in Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates. The data collection tool included 23 items rated on a Likert scale ranging from 5, strongly agree, to 1, strongly disagree.The internal consistency was established through calculating the split-half reliability for part 1 (12 items), which had a Cronbach coefficient of 0.65, and part 2 (11 items), which had a Cronbach coefficient of 0.62. Scale validity was assessed with the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, which had a value of 0.62, and the Bartlett test of sphericity (approximated χ = 13012.2, P = 0.0001) supported the factorability of the correlation matrix. The varimax rotation revealed 5 components that explained 77.8% of the total variance. The varimax rotation revealed 21 items loaded on the following 5 factors: fear of disclosure and provider image consequences (factor 1), apology (factor 2), organizational culture toward patient safety (factor 3), professional ethics and transparency (factor 4), as well as patient and provider education (factor 5). The disclosure of medical mistakes requires preliminary considerations to effectively and compassionately disclose these events to patients. The validity and reliability of the results support the use of this scale at hospitals as part of the health care providers' disclosure processes.

Growing demand for human health research in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has prompted the need to develop a robust research ethics oversight. Examination of the structure, function, and practices of the human research ethics committees (HRECs), followed by evaluation of standards for measuring research output, was conducted. Results indicate that among the HRECs, 90% followed International Council for Harmonization-Good Clinical Practice guidelines, 66.6% have been in operation for more than 5 years, 95% reviewed proposals within 8 weeks, and 56% reviewed for scientific merit apart from ethics. However, systems to recognize accomplishments of researchers, funding transparency, and adverse event reporting were deployed in less than 30% of all HRECs. Research was incorporated into the vision and mission statements of many (65%) organizations. Research publications, collaborations, and recognitions were used to measure research output and report key performance indicators. In spite, resources to generate research output such as dedicated budget (20%), support staff (20%), and continuous training and mentoring program for medical residents (15%) and HREC members (25%) were somehow lacking. HREC structure and operations in the UAE are similar to other regions of the world. Systems to conduct research and report outcomes are defined in the UAE. Regulatory legislation and allocation of resources to support the clinical research enterprise will not only help to meet growing demand for clinical trials but also transform the quality of patient care in the UAE. It is anticipated that the results of this study will benefit investigators, regulators, pharmaceutical sponsors, and the policy makers in the region.

A national health account (NHA) provides a systematic approach to mapping the flow of health sector funds within a specified health system over a defined time period. This article attempts to present a profile of health system financing in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates using data from NHAs, and to compare the functional structures of financing schemes in Dubai with schemes in Qatar and selected member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The author analyzed secondary data published in NHAs of Dubai and Qatar and data collected by the OECD countries and publicly available from Eurostat (Statistical Office of the European Union) of 25 OECD countries for comparative analysis. All health financing indicators used were as defined in the international System of Health Accounts (SHA). In Dubai, spending on inpatient care was the highest-costing component, with 30% of current health expenditures (CHE). Spending on outpatient care was the second highest-costing component and accounted for about 23% of the CHE. Household spending accounted for about 22% of CHE (equivalent to US$187 per capita), compared to an average of 20% of CHE of OECD countries. Dubai spent 0.02% of CHE on long-term care, compared to an average of 11% of CHE of OECD countries. Dubai spent about 6% of CHE on prevention and public health services, compared to an average of 3.2% of CHE of OECD countries. The findings point to potential opportunities for growth and improvement in several health policy issues in Dubai, including increasing focus and funding of preventive services; shifting from inpatient care to day surgery, outpatient, and home-based services and strengthening long-term care; and introducing cost-containment measures for pharmaceuticals. More investment in the translation of NHA data into policy is suggested for future researchers.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Over the last 30 years the citizens of the UnitedArabEmirates have experienced major changes in life-style secondary to increased affluence. Currently, 1 in 5 adults have diabetes mellitus, but the associations (clustering among risk factors, as well as the relevance of the concept of the metabolic syndrome, in this population is unknown. Aim To investigate the prevalence and associations among cardiovascular risk factors in this population, and explore to what extent associations can be explained by the metabolic syndrome according to ATP-III criteria. Method A community based survey, of conventional risk factors for cardiovascular disease was conducted among 817 national residents of Al Ain city, UAE. These factors were fasting blood sugar, blood pressure, lipid profile, BMI, waist circumference, smoking, or CHD family history. Odds ratios between risks factors, both unadjusted and adjusted for age and sex as well as adjusted for age, sex, and metabolic syndrome were calculated. Results Various risk factors were positively associated in this population; associations that are mostly unexplained by confounding by age and sex. For example, hypertension and diabetes were still strongly related (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.7–3.7 after adjustment. An increased waist circumference showed similar relationship with hypertension (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.5–3.5. Diabetes was related to an increased BMI (OR 1.5; 96% CI 1.0–2.3. Smoking was also associated with diabetes (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.0–3.3. Further adjustment for metabolic syndrome reduced some associations but several remained. Conclusion In this population risk-factors cluster, but associations do not appear to be explained by the presence/absence of the ATP-III metabolic syndrome. Associations provide valuable information in planning interventions for screening and management.

This paper employs ANN (Artificial Neural Network) models to estimate GHI (global horizontal irradiance) for three major cities in the UAE (UnitedArabEmirates), namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Al-Ain. City data are then used to develop a comprehensive global GHI model for other nearby locations in the UAE. The ANN models use MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) and RBF (Radial Basis Function) techniques with comprehensive training algorithms, architectures, and different combinations of inputs. The UAE models are tested and validated against individual city models and data available from the UAE Solar Atlas with good agreement as attested by the computed statistical error parameters. The optimal ANN model is MLP-based and requires four mean daily weather parameters; namely, maximum temperature, wind speed, sunshine hours, and relative humidity. The computed statistical error parameters for the optimal MLP-ANN model in relation to the measured three-cities mean data (referred to as UAE data) are MBE (mean bias error) = −0.0003 kWh/m 2 , RMSE = 0.179 kWh/m 2 , R 2 = 99%, NSE (Nash-Sutcliffe model Efficiency coefficient) = 99%, and t-statistic = 0.005 at 5% significance level. Results prove the suitability of the ANN models for estimating the monthly mean daily GHI in different locations of the UAE. - Highlights: • ANN prediction models for the GHI (global horizontal irradiance) in the UAE. • Models used to estimate the potential of global solar radiation for UAE cities. • Data from the UAE Solar Atlas are used to validate developed ANN models. • ANN models are more efficient than regression models in predicting GHI

Full Text Available Greenhouses have been used in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE to produce vegetables that contribute toward UAE food security, including offering fresh vegetable produce in the off-season. However, to manage such greenhouses, farmers face both technical and environmental limitations (i.e., high water scarcity, as well as vegetable market price instability. The objective of this study is to explore tradeoffs between returns (i.e., gross margin of selected vegetables (tomato, pepper, and cucumber, risk (deviation from gross margin means, and an environmental constraint (water salinity using a unique target MOTAD (minimization of total absolute deviations approach to support UAE farmer decision-making processes. The optimal target MOTAD solution included all three vegetables and no corner solution. The results showed tradeoffs between returns and risks, and confirmed that product diversification reduces overall risk. The analysis was consistent with farmer perceptions based on a survey of 78 producers in the region. The search for the optimal mix of vegetable production under UAE greenhouse conditions revealed that reduction in tomato production should be offset by an increase in cucumber production while maintaining a constant level of pepper production. In other words, risk is reduced as cucumber production increases due to the high level of tomato and lettuce price volatility as the alternative to cucumber. The results also demonstrated the importance of the water salinity environmental constraint, as it was found to have a positive marginal value in the optimal vegetable mix solution (i.e., important factor. Thus the optimal solution was highly sensitive to changes in the crop water salinity constraint. The study results also demonstrate that the target MOTAD approach is a suitable optimization methodology. As a practical approach, a decision-maker in the UAE can consider gross margin (total revenue-variable costs maximization with risk and water

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: This study estimates the potential health gains achievable in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE with improved controls on environmental pollution. The UAE is an emerging economy in which population health risks have shifted rapidly from infectious diseases to chronic conditions observed in developed nations. The UAE government commissioned this work as part of an environmental health strategic planning project intended to address this shift in the nature of the country's disease burden. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We assessed the burden of disease attributable to six environmental exposure routes outdoor air, indoor air, drinking water, coastal water, occupational environments, and climate change. For every exposure route, we integrated UAE environmental monitoring and public health data in a spatially resolved Monte Carlo simulation model to estimate the annual disease burden attributable to selected pollutants. The assessment included the entire UAE population (4.5 million for the year of analysis. The study found that outdoor air pollution was the leading contributor to mortality, with 651 attributable deaths (95% confidence interval [CI] 143-1,440, or 7.3% of all deaths. Indoor air pollution and occupational exposures were the second and third leading contributors to mortality, with 153 (95% CI 85-216 and 46 attributable deaths (95% CI 26-72, respectively. The leading contributor to health-care facility visits was drinking water pollution, to which 46,600 (95% CI 15,300-61,400 health-care facility visits were attributed (about 15% of the visits for all the diseases considered in this study. Major study limitations included (1 a lack of information needed to translate health-care facility visits to quality-adjusted-life-year estimates and (2 insufficient spatial coverage of environmental data. CONCLUSIONS: Based on international comparisons, the UAE's environmental disease burden is low for all factors except outdoor air pollution. From a

To examine the relationships between temperature, season (summer versus winter), lifestyle, health, mood, beliefs, and experience of hot flushes and night sweats (HFNS), amongst mid-aged women living in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The UAE climate is hyper-arid, being a hot desert climate, with warm winters and hot summers. A total of 372 peri- and postmenopausal women, aged from 45 to 55 years, from urban UAE regions were included. Data were collected during both summer and winter months. Participants completed questionnaires eliciting information about sociodemographics, HFNS (prevalence, frequency and problem-rating), health and lifestyle (body mass index (BMI), diet, exercise), mood (Women's Health Questionnaire) and menopause attributions and beliefs (Menopause Representations Questionnaire). HFNS were currently being experienced by 46.5% of women, with an average weekly frequency of five and problem-rating of 5.7/10. Seasonal variation in temperature was not associated with prevalence, frequency or problem-rating. Hot flush prevalence was associated with poor health, life satisfaction, mood, employment, lower BMI and diet. Higher frequency was associated with higher BMI and more years since the last period. HFNS were more problematic mainly for women who reported lower life satisfaction and held more negative beliefs about the menopause. In this UAE study, temperature and seasonal temperature variation did not appear to influence HFNS-reporting, but health, life satisfaction, BMI, beliefs and lifestyle factors partially explained women's experiences of menopausal symptoms. A qualitative study might provide further information about the meanings of HFNS and menopause amongst UAE women.

Full Text Available Objectives: This study aimed to determine contraceptive utilisation among mothers aged 18–49 years old in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from May to November 2013. A total of 400 participants were recruited from two primary healthcare centres and one private hospital in Ajman. An interviewer-administered validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: The frequency of previous and current contraceptive use was 68.0% and 61.8%, respectively. Expatriates more frequently used contraceptives in comparison to Emiratis (77.3% versus 54.3%, respectively. Contraceptive use increased significantly with age (75.5% among >35-year-olds versus 57.3% among ≤25-year-olds; P <0.050 and education level (83.3% among postgraduates versus 60.0% among those with primary education; P <0.050. In addition, contraceptive use was significantly higher among those living in a nuclear family system (P <0.050. A univariate analysis indicated significant associations between contraceptive use and age, nationality, education level, type of family system, employment sector, parity, knowledge of birth control measures and source of birth control information (P <0.050 each. However, no significant associations were found via multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Healthcare practitioners can play a pivotal role in providing contraceptive advice which could lead to an improvement in contraceptive utilisation. Efforts are recommended to raise awareness regarding newer forms of contraceptives among mothers of reproductive age in the UAE.

This report contains a review of the Agency's technical co-operation activities in the UnitedArabEmirates carried out during 1984-1994. In terms of coverage and analytical depth, country programmes summaries stand somewhere midway between in-depth country programme evaluations and individual project evaluations. They attempt to provide a comprehensive, descriptive picture of the Agency's co-operation with a Member State in a manner that will be particularly useful for programming decisions. The attempt is very much to describe - largely through statistical data - not to provide independent analysis and evaluation

Conclusions: There are needs for physicians to communicate with patients while ensuring sufficient consultation time based on excellent medical skills and nurses to respond immediately for the patients' needs through an empathic encounter in order to improve medical service quality and patient satisfaction so that to increase the revisit intention of the UnitedArabEmirates government sponsored patients. Further, it is necessary for the hospitals to have support plans for providing country specialized services in consideration of the UAE culture to ensure that physicians' and nurses' competencies are not undervalued by non-medical service elements such as interpreters and meals.

The growth of international branch campuses (IBCs) in China, Qatar, and the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) accounts for a significant portion of the overall growth of IBCs globally. Conversely the largest exporter of IBCs globally is the United States, with several U.S. IBCs located in each of these importing countries. With the intention of focusing…

The cost effective provision of quality care for chronic diseases is a major challenge for health care systems. We describe a project to improve the care of patients with the highly prevalent disorders of diabetes and hypertension, conducted in one of the major cities of the UnitedArabEmirates. The project, using the principles of quality assurance cycles, was conducted in 4 stages.The assessment stage consisted of a community survey and an audit of the health care system, with particular emphasis on chronic disease care. The information gleaned from this stage provided feedback to the staff of participating health centers. In the second stage, deficiencies in health care were identified and interventions were developed for improvements, including topics for continuing professional development.In the third stage, these strategies were piloted in a single health centre for one year and the outcomes evaluated. In the still ongoing fourth stage, the project was rolled out to all the health centers in the area, with continuing evaluation. The intervention consisted of changes to establish a structured care model based on the predicted needs of this group of patients utilizing dedicated chronic disease clinics inside the existing primary health care system. These clinics incorporated decision-making tools, including evidence-based guidelines, patient education and ongoing professional education. The intervention was successfully implemented in all the health centers. The health care quality indicators that showed the greatest improvement were the documentation of patient history (e.g. smoking status and physical activity); improvement in recording physical signs (e.g. body mass index (BMI)); and an improvement in the requesting of appropriate investigations, such as HbA1c and microalbuminurea. There was also improvement in those parameters reflecting outcomes of care, which included HbA1c, blood pressure and lipid profiles. Indicators related to lifestyle changes

Full Text Available Abstract Background Diabetes Mellitus (DM is a major public health problem in the UAE with a prevalence rate reaching 24% in national citizens and 17.4% in expatriates. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors of macrovascular complications among diabetic patients in the Al-Ain district of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. Methods The study was part of a general cross-sectional survey carried out to assess the prevalence of diabetes (DM complications among known diabetic patients in Al-Ain District, UAE. Patients were randomly selected during 2003/2004. Patients completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire carried out by treating doctors and underwent a complete medical assessment including measurement of height, weight, blood pressure and examination for evidence of macrovascular complications. A standard ECG was recorded and blood samples were taken to document fasting blood sugar, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C and lipid profile. Results A sample of 513 diabetic patients was selected with a mean age of 53 years (SD ± 13.01. Overall, 29.5% of DM patients had evidence of macrovascular complications: 11.6% (95% CI: 8.8–14.4 of patients had peripheral vascular disease (PVD, 14.4% (95% CI: 11.3–17.5 had a history of coronary artery disease (CAD and 3.5% (95% CI: 1.9–5.1% had cerebrovascular disease (CVD. Of the total population surveyed 35% (95%CI: 30.8–39 had hypertension. The analysis showed that macrovascular complications in diabetic patients were more common among males, increased with age, were more common among hypertensive patients and its prevalence increased steadily with duration of DM. Conclusion Our data revealed a significant association between hypertension and presence of macrovascular disease among diabetic patients. However, the risk of CAD in the UAE was relatively low compared to that seen in patients in other geographical settings. In addition, a lack of correlation between

In the UAE and the Gulf region in general, there are several intricate public health issues in the context of vitamin D deficiency that needs to be addressed. Changes in lifestyle such as diet, lack of exercise, cultural habits, avoiding sun exposure due to excessive heat, and other risk factors predispose those who live in GULF countries, such as Emiratis likely to becoming vitamin D deficient. Consequently, the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency is high, and new guidelines are needed to overcome this major public health issue. Peer-reviewed papers related to guidelines and those vitamin D-related papers relevant to the Middle-Eastern region were extracted from multiple research databases using key words according to the general guidelines from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Analysis. This guideline was prepared focusing on the UnitedArabEmirate and the Gulf populations, to overcome the high incidence of vitamin D deficiency and to improve overall health. We recommend the following vitamin D supplementations for different groups of people: (A) Breastfed infants supplement with 400 IU/day up to age 6 months, and 400-600 IU/day between 6 and 12 months, depending on daily intake of total vitamin D and sun exposure; (B) for children and adolescents of age 1-18 years supplement with 600-1000 IU/day depending on the body weight; (C) adults greater than 18 years', supplementation with 1000-2000 IU/day is recommended, while, (D) the elderly (over 65 years) should be supplemented with 2000 IU/day, throughout the year; (E) pregnant and breast feed women, 2000 IU/day from the first trimester of pregnancy. (F) Premature infants, supplementation of 400-800 IU/daystart from the first days of life. (G) For obese, individuals and those with metabolic syndrome, supplementation of 2000 IU/day (H) For individuals with dark skin complexions and for night workers, supplementation of 1000-2000 IU/day (25-50μg/day), throughout the year, depending on body weight. The

The distribution of larger benthic foraminifera in Recent littoral environment of the UnitedArabEmirates (Abu Dhabi and Western regions) was investigated with the aim of understanding the response of those foraminifera to an increase in water salinity. For this purpose, 100 sediment samples from nearshore shelf, beach-front, channel, lagoon, and intertidal environment were collected. Sampling was undertaken at a water depth shallower than 15 m in water with a temperature of 22 to 35˚C, a salinity ranging from 40 to 60‰ and a pH of 8. Samples were stained with rose Bengal at the moment of sample collection in order to identify living specimens. The most abundant epiphytic larger benthic foraminifera in the studied area were Peneroplis pertusus and P. planatus with less common Spirolina areatina, S. aciculate and Sorites marginalis. The living specimens of the above mentioned species with normal test growing were particularly abundant in the nearshore shelf and lagoonal samples collected on seaweed. Dead specimens were concentrated in the coarser sediments of the beach-front, probably transported from nearby environments. Shallow coastal ponds are located in the upper intertidal zone and have a maximum salinity of 60‰ and contain abundant detached seagrass. Samples collected from these ponds possess a living foraminifera assemblage dominated by Peneroplis pertusus and P. planatus. High percentages (up to 50% of the stained assemblage) of Peneroplis presented abnormality in test growth, such as the presence of multiple apertures with reduced size, deformation in the general shape of the test, irregular suture lines and abnormal coiling. The high percentage of abnormal tests reflects natural environmental stress mainly caused by high and variable salinity. The unique presence of living epiphytic species, suggests that epiphytic foraminifera may be transported into the pond together with seagrass and continued to live in the pond. This hypothesis is supported by

Full Text Available Abstract Background The cost effective provision of quality care for chronic diseases is a major challenge for health care systems. We describe a project to improve the care of patients with the highly prevalent disorders of diabetes and hypertension, conducted in one of the major cities of the UnitedArabEmirates. Settings and Methods The project, using the principles of quality assurance cycles, was conducted in 4 stages. The assessment stage consisted of a community survey and an audit of the health care system, with particular emphasis on chronic disease care. The information gleaned from this stage provided feedback to the staff of participating health centers. In the second stage, deficiencies in health care were identified and interventions were developed for improvements, including topics for continuing professional development. In the third stage, these strategies were piloted in a single health centre for one year and the outcomes evaluated. In the still ongoing fourth stage, the project was rolled out to all the health centers in the area, with continuing evaluation. The intervention consisted of changes to establish a structured care model based on the predicted needs of this group of patients utilizing dedicated chronic disease clinics inside the existing primary health care system. These clinics incorporated decision-making tools, including evidence-based guidelines, patient education and ongoing professional education. Results The intervention was successfully implemented in all the health centers. The health care quality indicators that showed the greatest improvement were the documentation of patient history (e.g. smoking status and physical activity; improvement in recording physical signs (e.g. body mass index (BMI; and an improvement in the requesting of appropriate investigations, such as HbA1c and microalbuminurea. There was also improvement in those parameters reflecting outcomes of care, which included HbA1c, blood

High seroprevalence of Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus (MERS-CoV) in dromedary camels has been previously reported in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). However, the molecular detection of the virus has never been reported before in UAE. Of the 7,803 nasal swabs tested in the epidemiological survey, MERS-CoV nucleic acid was detected by real-time PCR in a total of 126 (1.6 %) camels. Positive camels were detected at the borders with Saudi Arabia and Oman and in camels' slaughter houses. MERS-CoV partial sequences obtained from UAE camels were clustering with human- and camel-derived MERS-CoV sequences in the same geographic area. Results provide further evidence of MERS-CoV zoonosis.

As the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) moves towards a knowledge-based economy, maximising the participation of the national workforce, especially women, in the transformation process is crucial. Using survey methods and semi-structured interviews, this paper examines the factors that influence women's decisions regarding their degree programme and…

The Sand cat (Felis margarita) is a small-sized felid occurring in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The Sand cat captive breeding program at the Breeding Centre for Endangered Arabian Wildlife (BCEAW), Sharjah, UAE, has experienced high newborn mortality rates, and congenital toxoplasmosis was recent...

This case study explores and investigates the perceptions and experiences of foreign language anxiety (FLA) among students of English as a Foreign Language in a Higher Education Institution in the UnitedArabEmirates. The first phase explored the scope and severity of language anxiety among all Foundation level male students at a college in the…

In May 2015 in UnitedArabEmirates, asymptomatic Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection was identified through active case finding in 2 men with exposure to infected dromedaries. Epidemiologic and virologic findings suggested zoonotic transmission. Genetic sequences for viruses from the men and camels were similar to those for viruses recently detected in other countries.

As Bereday (1964) once said, comparative education research, in its most rudimentary form, begins with juxtaposition. When juxtaposing contemporary trends concerning higher education in Saudi Arabia and the UnitedArabEmirates--both of which currently provide substantial support to improve their higher education systems--differences abound in…

Well-constrained modern depositional analogues are vital to the development of accurate geological reservoir models. The development of realistic hydrocarbon reservoir models requires the application of high-precision, well-constrained outcrop and sub-surface data sets with accurately-documented facies geometries and depositional sequence architectures. The Abu Dhabi coastline provides the best modern analogue for the study of ramp-style carbonate depositional facies akin to those observed in the sub-surface reservoirs of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). However, all previous studies have relied on temporally limited surface datasets. This study employed thirty five shallow subsurface cores spanning the width of the Khawr Al Maqta - the narrow shallow tidal channel that separates Abu Dhabi Island from the mainland. The cores were taken over a transect measuring 1.2 km in length by 50 m wide thus providing a high-resolution record of sub-surface facies geometries in a stratigraphically complex setting. Geometries in these Pleistocene to Holocene facies are complex with interdigitating, laterally heterogeneous carbonate, siliciclastic and evaporite units represented throughout the area of the study. Carbonate facies range from molluscan rudstones to marls and are all indicative of deposition in a shallow, relatively low energy marine setting akin to that seen in the environs of Abu Dhabi Island today. Texturally mature quartz sands occur as thin lenses and as thin cross bedded or laminated horizons up to twenty five centimetres thick. Glauconitic mudstones are common and locally exhibit evidence of rootlets and desiccation cracks. Evaporites are present in the form of gypsum occurring as isolated crystals and nodules or as massive chicken-wire units in excess of three metres thick. All of these textures are consistent with evaporite development in the shallow subsurface. Early, shallow-burial diagenesis has been important. Bioclasts are pervasively leached throughout

A competent transcultural health care service has been identified as essential for the delivery of safe health care in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and indeed internationally. Delivery of contextually informed educational programs to new employees forms an important component of achieving this requirement. Nurse educators have an essential role in identifying the cultural and religious knowledge needed by new employees and in designing programs to address these needs. The objective of this article was to explore the cultural and religious educational needs of overseas nurses working with Muslim patients in the KSA and the UAE as derived from the experience of nurses themselves. Written narratives from nurses employed to work primarily with Muslim nurses were analyzed using a qualitative descriptive methodology. In the UAE and the KSA context, and perhaps for nurses working with Muslim-Arabic patients worldwide, the culturally and religiously specific topics that need to be a component of preemployment education include the basic Islamic principles (5 daily prayers, Ramadan fasting, Zamzam water, and time management skills to accommodate religious practices within care); Kinship and Social Factors (family structure, gender-related issues, and social support system); and Basic Arabic language skills.

Full Text Available The study aimed to assess factors associated with self-medication (SM among expatriate high school students of UnitedArabEmirates using a validated questionnaire. Most common reasons for self-medication in 324 participating students were: presence of mild illness and previous experiences. High risk practices like altering the dose, discontinuation of medication and self-medication without adult guidance were observed. The likelihood of SM was 4.9 times (95%C.I.: 2.0-12.2 in students not utilizing private healthcare services than those who were utilizing these services. Increased efforts are needed to prevent the risks of self-medication in adolescents through healthcare education for both parents and adolescents.

Stigma is a powerful determinant of physical and mental health around the world, a perennial public health concern that is particularly resistant to change. This article builds from sociologist Erving Goffman's classic conception of stigma as a unitary social phenomenon to explore the stigma attached to two seemingly dissimilar conditions: food insecurity in rural Brazil, and obesity in the urban UnitedArabEmirates. Our analyses underscore that both conditions are stigmatized because they represent a departure from a deeply-held social norm, and in both cases, self-stigma plays an important role. Furthermore, in both cases, the stigma associated with food insecurity and obesity is likely at least as harmful to personal wellbeing as are the biological consequences of these conditions. Finally, evidence increasingly links obesity and food insecurity causally. Our analyses suggest that these forms of stigma transcend individuals and are largely structural in their origins, and therefore that they are most likely to be improved through structural change.

On the evening of 31 March 1994, a quantity (16 000 t) of Iranian crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Oman 9.5 miles outside the Al-Fujirah port entrance after a collision between the tanker 'Baynunah' and the supertanker 'Seki'. Clean-up operations which started within 1 h and 40 min of the collision could remove only 2000 t of oil from the sea, and failed to contain the spill. After 4 days, the floating oil hit the shoreline of the UnitedArabEmirates and contaminated about 20 km of shoreline. The main objectives of this paper are to evaluate the concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons and organic carbon contents at the time of the incident and to assess, in July and November 1994, the recovery of the marine environment after a period of about 8 months. (author)

Full Text Available BackgroundFrailty describes the ageing-associated loss of physiological and psychological reserves leading to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Many developed countries view frailty as a major priority for their health and social care systems. Less is known about frailty in less-developed countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of frailty in a sample of community dwelling older people in the UnitedArabEmirates.MethodsThis was a cross sectional study of community dwelling Emirati adults aged 55 years and older (n=160 in Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates. Data was collected at interview by questionnaire and physical measurements. Frailty was defined according to the criteria of the Fried Frailty Index. The prevalence of frailty and its association with selected independent variables was assessed.ResultsThe overall prevalence of frailty (95% CI was 47% (39-55. Higher levels of frailty were seen in older age groups, women, those who were non-married, those with recent hospital admission, those with co-morbid conditions, those on more than five medications and those with lower forced expiratory volume and mini-mental state examination score. After adjustment in a multiple logistic regression model only age and gender were found to be independently associated with frailty.ConclusionA high prevalence of frailty was found amongst older Emiratis. Given that frailty is associated with adverse health outcomes and can be a means of identifying opportunities for intervention in clinical practice and health policy, further attention and consideration within professional and public health policy circles is needed.

In the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), health services have developed greatly in the past 40 years. To ensure they continue to meet the needs of the population, innovation and change are required including investment in a strong e-Health infrastructure with a single transferrable electronic patient record. In this paper, using the Emirate of Dubai as a case study, we report on the Middle East Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM). Between 2011-2016, the number of participating hospitals has increased from 23 to 33. Currently, while 20/33 of hospitals are at Stage 2 or less, 10/33 have reached Stage 5. Also Dubai's median EMRAM score in 2016 (2.5) was higher than the scores reported from Australia (2.2), New Zealand (2.3), Malaysia (0.06), the Philippines (0.06) and Thailand (0.5). EMRAM has allowed the tracking of the progress being made by healthcare facilities in Dubai towards upgrading their information technology infrastructure and the introduction of electronic medical records.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of women undergoing Papanicolaou (Pap) smear examinations, and the frequency of epithelial cell abnormalities in a teaching hospital in one emirate of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) during a three-year period. Methods: A retrospective study of 602 patient records from July 2007 to July 2010 was done in a teaching hospital in Ajman, UAE. The variables studied were age, ethnicity, menopausal status, and abnormalities in the Pap smear. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and presented mainly as percentages; to assess associations, the chi-square test was used. Results: The total number of outpatients who attended the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department from July 2007 to July 2010 was 150,111 patients, of which 602 (0.4% of the total) had a Pap smear test. The sample was 50.1% Arabs and 49.9% other nationalities. While 73% of the outpatients had specific complaints, 27% came for a routine screening. Epithelial cell abnormalities were seen in 3.3% of the sample, with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) found in 1.8%, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) found in 1.2%, and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs) found in 0.3%. There were no cases of squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion: Voluntary routine Pap smear screening was remarkably low in the study group. ASCUS was the most common epithelial cell abnormality. Community health education and opportunistic screening for cervical cancer are recommended for both national and expatriate women in the region. PMID:23275844

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of women undergoing Papanicolaou (Pap smear examinations, and the frequency of epithelial cell abnormalities in a teaching hospital in one emirate of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE during a three-year period. Methods: A retrospective study of 602 patient records from July 2007 to July 2010 was done in a teaching hospital in Ajman, UAE. The variables studied were age, ethnicity, menopausal status, and abnormalities in the Pap smear. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and presented mainly as percentages; to assess associations, the chi-square test was used. Results: The total number of outpatients who attended the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department from July 2007 to July 2010 was 150,111 patients, of which 602 (0.4% of the total had a Pap smear test. The sample was 50.1% Arabs and 49.9% other nationalities. While 73% of the outpatients had specific complaints, 27% came for a routine screening. Epithelial cell abnormalities were seen in 3.3% of the sample, with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS found in 1.8%, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs found in 1.2%, and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs found in 0.3%. There were no cases of squamous cell carcinoma. Conclusion: Voluntary routine Pap smear screening was remarkably low in the study group. ASCUS was the most common epithelial cell abnormality. Community health education and opportunistic screening for cervical cancer are recommended for both national and expatriate women in the region.

Full Text Available Further to our recently published findings, we have completed the analysis of our second year of prehospital data collection for the same service. We wish to expedite the availability of this data to clinicians, researchers and policy makers in the region.Our 2015/2016 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA data displayed the following demographic results: 514 OHCA resuscitation attempts were attended by national ambulance (NA emergency medical services (EMS in the Northern Emirates region (75% male. Male patients continued on average to be younger than female ones (50 vs. 61 years, and the median age of OHCA cases in the UnitedArabEmirates remains well below that of cases in Western countries (52 years, interquartile range: 38; 69.Over half of these cases occurred at a home residence, with the next most common location being a street or highway. A total of 282 (54.5% incidents were witnessed by a bystander, 43 (8.3% events by NA crew, and 189 (36.7% incidents were not witnessed. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR was attempted in 135 (28.6% of non-EMS-witnessed cases (n=471. A bystander or public access defibrillator was applied in only five cases (1% and no shocks were delivered by bystanders in any case. A total of 34 (6.6% patients had a return of spontaneous circulation in the pre-hospital setting, over twice the rate demonstrated in the first year of our study. Survival to discharge data has been collected for the first time by our hospital partners, and the publication of these results in the near future will contribute greatly to our understanding of the OHCA issue in the region.The increase in the number of OHCA responses by NA crew is notable in our findings. This may be attributable to several reasons, including greater public awareness of EMS capabilities, and improved access to EMS via the dedicated 998 emergency number and the NA mobile application. This trend is to be welcomed, as implementation of the chain of survival

Full Text Available Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer amongst females in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE with an estimated incidence of 7.4 per 100,000 persons per year. In March 2008, the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi launched a free school-based campaign to provide all female Emirati students aged 15-17 years in the emirate of Abu Dhabi with the Human Papillomavirus vaccine (HPVV. Despite the proven efficacy of the HPVV in clinical trials, there has been limited research exploring the acceptance of this vaccine within a conservative Islamic society. The media plays a key role in changing beliefs and attitudes towards specific public health initiatives, such as vaccination programmes. The primary aim of this study was to explore the content and communication style of the UAE newspapers (both Arabic and English before, during and after the HPV vaccination programme.Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted on six national newspapers with the highest circulation figures in the UAE (Arabic: Al Ittihad, Al Khaleej, Emarat El Youm; English: Khaleej Times, The National, Gulf News to retrieve articles related to cervical cancer prevention from January 2000 to May 2013. One bilingual researcher (Arabic-English utilised content analysis to study the subject matter of communication in each article.Results: A total of 79 newspaper articles (N=31 Arabic were included in the study. Content analysis coding revealed five main themes: (i ‘HPV Screening or Vaccination Programmes in the UAE’ (N=30; (ii ‘Cervical Cancer Statistics in the UAE’ (N=22; (iii ‘Aetiology of Cervical Cancer and HPVV Efficacy’ (N=12; (iv ‘Cultural Sensitivity and Misconceptions Surrounding HPVV in School-Aged Females’ (e.g. promoting promiscuity (N=8; and (v ‘Cost- Effectiveness, Efficacy and Safety’ (N=7. Conclusion: The UAE media is playing an important role in raising public awareness about cervical cancer and specific governmental health

Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among females in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) with an estimated incidence of 7.4 per 100,000 persons per year. In March 2008, the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi launched a free school-based campaign to provide all female Emirati students aged 15-17 years in the emirate of Abu Dhabi with the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPVV). Despite the proven efficacy of the HPVV in clinical trials, there has been limited research exploring the acceptance of this vaccine within a conservative Islamic society. The media plays a key role in changing beliefs and attitudes toward specific public health initiatives, such as vaccination programs. The primary aim of this study was to explore the content and communication style of the UAE newspapers (both Arabic and English) before, during, and after the HPV vaccination program. A systematic literature search was conducted on six national newspapers with the highest circulation figures in the UAE (Arabic: Al Ittihad, Al Khaleej, and Emarat El Youm; English: Khaleej Times, The National, and Gulf News) to retrieve articles related to cervical cancer prevention from January 2000 to May 2013. One bilingual researcher (Arabic-English) utilized content analysis to study the subject matter of communication in each article. A total of 79 newspaper articles (N = 31 Arabic) were included in the study. Content analysis coding revealed five main themes: (i) "HPV Screening or Vaccination Programmes in the UAE" (N = 30); (ii) "Cervical Cancer Statistics in the UAE" (N = 22); (iii) "Aetiology of Cervical Cancer and HPVV Efficacy" (N = 12); (iv) "Cultural Sensitivity and Misconceptions Surrounding HPVV in School-Aged Females" (e.g., promoting promiscuity) (N = 8); and (v) "Cost-Effectiveness, Efficacy, and Safety" (N = 7). The UAE media is playing an important role in raising public awareness about cervical cancer and specific governmental health initiatives such as the HPVV

In 2011, the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) had the 10th highest diabetes prevalence globally, but this was based on data that excluded migrants who comprise 80% of the population. This study assessed diabetes prevalence across the UAE population. A random sample of migrants was recruited from the visa renewal centers. Data were collected using interviews, anthropometric measurements and fasting blood for glucose, lipids and genetic analyses. 2724 adults completed the questionnaires and blood tests. Of these, 81% were males, 65% were ≤40 years old and 3% were above 60 years. Diabetes, based on self-report or fasting plasma glucose ≥7.0 mmol/l, showed a crude prevalence of 15.5%, of whom 64.2% were newly diagnosed. Overall age- and sex-adjusted diabetes prevalence, according to the world mid-year population of 2013, was 19.1%. The highest prevalence was in Asians (16.4%) and non-Emirati Arabs (15.2%) and lowest in Africans and Europeans (11.9%). It increased with age: 6.3% in 18-30 years and 39.7% in 51 to 60 years. Lower education, obesity, positive family history, hypertension, dyslipidemia, snoring, and low HDL levels, all showed significant associations with diabetes. The high diabetes prevalence among migrants in the UAE, 64% of which was undiagnosed, necessitates urgent diabetes prevention and control programs for the entire UAE population.

Consanguinity is known to increase the burden of genetic disorders among offspring. However, the effect of consanguinity on a complex disorder like childhood asthma has not been studied previously. Therefore, we explored this relationship by studying the asthma prevalence in children between 6 and 14 years of age among the local Arab families of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) where consanguinity is known to be highly prevalent. A total of 1136 children from 295 families met our inclusion criteria. The prevalence of childhood asthma was higher among children in consanguineous families (43.3%) compared to non-consanguineous (22.6%, p consanguinity and the number of asthmatic children per family (p = 0.0002). Girls from consanguineous families had proportionately more asthma (42.9%, p consanguineous families increased asthma risk for both boys and girls (p = 0.021 for boys, p consanguineous families. The significant asthma predictors for girls from the consanguineous families were the degree of consanguinity and paternal asthma. The only predictor for boys was paternal asthma. These interesting observations merit further studies on both larger samples and in other consanguineous communities for confirmation.

... by several powerful and ambitious neighbors. Political reform has been minimal, but its relatively open economy and borders, particularly in the emirate of Dubai, have caused problems in proliferation, terrorism, and human trafficking...

Full Text Available Large old trees are often recognized for the provision of variety of ecosystem services to humanity. This paper reports the existence of a large old Tamarix aphylla (L. Karst. tree in the Hamriyah area of Sharjah, the UnitedArabEmirates. Existence of such keystone structures spans many human generations and they become a historic link between the generations. Therefore, protection and recognition of more culturally, historically, and ecologically important trees by establishing a comprehensive tree list are crucial.

Full Text Available New epidemics of infectious diseases often involve health care workers. In this short communication we present a case report of a health care professional who became the first case of influenza H1N1 virus to be notified in the UnitedArabEmirates. There are several issues related to workplace considerations and general public health, including preventive measures, the need for isolation of the patient, dealing with contacts, return to work, and communication with the workforce.

Concern has been raised about the electrocardiogram (EKG) analysis skills of family practice residents in the United States. This study examined EKG analysis skills of family practice residents, medical students, interns, and general practitioners (GPs) in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), a different environment. The measurement instrument was a set of 10 EKGs, used in a study of US family practice residents. Two of the EKGs were normal, and there were 14 clinical abnormalities in the remainder. There was no significant difference in the correct diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction between US family practice residents and UAE family practice residents, medical students, or GPs. Interns' diagnoses were significantly poorer. The mean score for correctly identifying acute myocardial infarction and both normal EKGs was not significantly different between groups: 2.50 medical students, 2.35 interns, 2.58 UAE family practice residents, 2.67 FD, and 2.55 US family practice residents. However, the US family practice resident mean score of 11.26 for all 16 clinical findings was significantly higher than any group in the UAE: 5.35 medical students, 5.87 interns, 6.08 UAE family practice residents, 5.69 family physicians. Difficulty in EKG interpretation transcends geographic boundaries, suggesting that new approaches to teaching these skills need to be explored. Improved EKG reading skills by family physicians are generally needed in both the United States and the UAE.

Objective The objective of this study was to develop a simple non-invasive risk score, specific to the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) citizens, to identify individuals at increased risk of having undiagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus. Research design and methods A retrospective analysis of the UAE National Diabetes and Lifestyle data was conducted. The data included demographic and anthropometric measurements, and fasting blood glucose. Univariate analyses were used to identify the risk factors for diabetes. The risk score was developed for UAE citizens using a stepwise forward regression model. Results A total of 872 UAE citizens were studied. The overall prevalence of diabetes in the UAE adult citizens in the Northern Emirates was 25.1%. The significant risk factors identified for diabetes were age (≥35 years), a family history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, body mass index ≥30.0 and waist-to-hip ratio ≥0.90 for males and ≥0.85 for females. The performance of the model was moderate in terms of sensitivity (75.4%, 95% CI 68.3 to 81.7) and specificity (70%, 95% CI 65.8 to 73.9). The area under the receiver-operator characteristic curve was 0.82 (95% CI 0.78 to 0.86). Conclusions A simple, non-invasive risk score model was developed to help to identify those at high risk of having diabetes among UAE citizens. This score could contribute to the efficient and less expensive earlier detection of diabetes in this high-risk population. PMID:29629178

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is among the top two regions in the world with the fastest growing HIV epidemic. In this context, risks and vulnerability are high as the epidemic is on the rise with evidence indicating significantly increasing HIV prevalence, new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. The aim of the survey was to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes related to HIV/AIDS among a wide group of university students in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). In a cross-sectional survey, a total sample of 2,294 students (406 male; 1,888 female) from four universities in three different Emirates in the UAE were approached to take part in the study. Students self-completed a questionnaire that was designed to measure their knowledge and attitudes to HIV/AIDS. The overall average knowledge score of HIV.AIDS was 61%. Non-Emirati and postgraduates demonstrated higher levels of knowledge compared to Emirati and undergraduate students respectively. No significant differences between males and females; and marital status were found. Eighty-five percent of students expressed negative attitudes towards people living with HIV, with Emirati and single students significantly holding more negative attitudes compared to non-Emiratis and those that are married respectively. The findings provide strong evidence that there is a need to advocate for appropriate National HIV/AIDS awareness raising campaigns in universities to reduce the gaps in knowledge and decrease stigmatizing attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS.

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of high blood pressure (BP and its relationship with obesity among children and adolescents. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this cross-sectional population (Emirati representative study, we invited a random sample of 1600 students (grades 1-12 attending 23 out of all 246 schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates. But analysis was restricted to Emirati nationals aged 6-17 years. We measured BP, height, weight, waist circumferences (WC, and calculated body mass index (BMI by standard methods. BP levels ≥ 90(th percentile but <95(th percentile and ≥ 95(th for age, sex, and height (CDC percentiles were classified as pre-hypertension (pre-HTN and hypertension (HTN, respectively. Associations between BP, age, BMI, WC, and sex, were investigated by (multiple linear regression methods. A total of 999 (47% girls students provided complete results. The prevalence of pre-HTN was 10.5% and 11.4% and the prevalence of HTN was 15.4% and 17.8% among boys and girls, respectively. The prevalence of systolic/diastolic HTN was 14.4%/2.5% and 14.8/7.4% among boys and girls, respectively. BMI CDC percentile was positively correlated with WC percentile (r = 0.734, p<0.01, and both systolic (r = 0.34, p<0.001 and diastolic (r = 0.21, p<0.001 standardized BP. WC percentile was less strongly correlated with standardized SBP (r = 0.255, p<0.01 and DBP (r = 0.175, p<0.01 than BMI. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The prevalence of elevated BP, notably systolic was significantly high among the Emirati children and adolescents in Abu Dhabi. High BP was strongly related to body weight, and appears more strongly associated with BMI than WC. Further studies are required to investigate the impact of childhood obesity on HTN.

Full Text Available Aim. Intradialytic exercise (IDE improves hyperphosphatemia management in hemodialysis (HD patient in addition to other clinical outcomes. The aim of the study is to present the strategies needed to integrate such a protocol in an HD unit in UAE and patients' baseline characteristics. Methods. The largest HD unit in Sharjah emirate was chosen. All eligible patients (n = 57 in the unit were included. Patients were stable adults HD patients who served as their own controls. The intervention included an aerobic low intensity IDE of 45 minutes per HD session, tailored to each patient's fitness scale (BORG scale for 6 months. Patients were educated on the importance of exercise. Outcome measures were barriers to exercise, serum phosphorus (P, urea reduction ratio (URR, malnutrition inflammation score, quality of life (QOL using euroqol5 collected at baseline and post intervention. Results. A total of 41 patients completed the study, 61% were males and 90.2%, 53.7% and 14.6% suffered from hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, respectively. Hyperphosphatemia was prevalent among 75% of the patients with a mean of 5.76 ± 1.66 mg/dl. The mean age was 48 ± 14.37 years, BMI 24.98 ± 6.09 kg/m2, URR 71.88 ± 8.52%, and Kt/v 1.32 ± 1.09. The main barrier to exercise was identified to be fatigue on HD days by 58.5% of patients, followed by fear of getting hurt (36.6%. Finally, 80.4% of patients were mildly malnourished and QOL scale was 65.02% ± 18.54. Conclusion. Our study highlighted the widespread of hyperphosphatemia and malnutrition in our sample. The IDE regimen, if proven effective in future studies, could be integrated in the routine practice and may improve patients' outcomes.

Full Text Available A consensus is forming among experts that the best way to achieve emissions’ reduction in the near and mid-term is increasing the demand-side energy efficiency—this is especially true in developing countries where the potential for demand reduction is significant and achievable at relatively lower cost. Enhanced energy efficiency also reduces energy costs and can result in a financial benefit to end-users, if the life-cycle value of energy savings offsets the upfront cost of implementing the measure. At the same time, reducing energy demand translates into lower pull for fossil fuel import and supply/distribution capacity expansion. An ideal candidate for the implementation of demand-side energy efficiency measures is the building sector, since it contributes to a large extent to the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs emitted worldwide. In most developing countries, the contribution of the building sector to the total national GHG emissions is significantly higher than the worldwide average. This is in part due to the lower level of industrial activity. Other drivers of the high emissions of the building sector are the inefficiency of the envelope and technical systems of the existing buildings, as well as harsh climatic conditions requiring the use of energy intensive air-conditioning equipment. The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE currently have the highest ecological footprint per capita in the world. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the focus of this study, can be expected to have a footprint that is even higher, being the largest economy and the major oil producer among the seven Emirates. In addition to the environmental consequences of unrestrained energy consumption, the fact that energy prices are heavily subsidized in Abu Dhabi results in a significant financial burden for the government. In the UAE and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the air-conditioning load in buildings is the ideal target for demand-side management because it constitutes more

Full Text Available Rapid economic and cultural transition in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE has been accompanied by new challenges to public health; most notably a rapid rise in chronic disease. Breastfeeding is known to improve health outcomes in adulthood, is associated with reduced risk of developing chronic disease, and is therefore an important public health issue for this rapidly increasing population. Factors associated with infant feeding practices were examined in a cohort of 125 Emirati women and their infants, with data collected at birth and 3, 6 and 15 months postpartum by questionnaires and interviews. Participants were recruited in the Corniche Hospital, the main maternity hospital in the city of Abu Dhabi. Factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods were investigated using univariate and multivariate statistics. Recommended infant feeding practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and timely introduction of appropriate complementary foods, were poorly adhered to. Factors implicated in early cessation of breastfeeding included: time to first breastfeed, mother’s education level, employment status and early introduction of complementary foods.

Full Text Available Many modern complex building projects in the public and private sectors are characterized by its poor information management which is manifested by time and cost overruns around the world. Building Information Modelling (BIM is currently being adopted around the world with various countries mandated its implementation. In specific, the implementation of BIM is rapidly growing in developed countries such as USA, UK, Singapore and Australia, with government mandate through devising strategies and initiatives to increase the adoption. The implementation of BIM in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE and other developing countries lags behind due to the existence of numerous implementation barriers. This study explores the current status of BIM implementation in the UAE municipalities, further explores the people, process and technology readiness towards BIM adoption in the UAE building projects. Further the study also explores the current challenges against the BIM adoption. The study adopts a positivists approach by collecting data through questionnaires, a sample of sixty participants across the UAE municipalities from different states were selected randomly to acquire the data. The collected data is statistically analyzed to obtain the findings. The analysis results showed that there are inadequate people and process related readiness towards BIM adoption whereas the technology readiness does exist. The same also was reflected in further analysis on BIM adoption barriers as the challenges. Further the paper also discusses the possible strategies adopted around the world through literature to address the explored challenges in the study

The purpose of this article is to describe the implementation of a team-based learning (TBL) approach in a removable denture prosthesis (RDP) module and present the results of students' performance in individual and group TBL activities and exam scores, students' experience with TBL and end of course evaluations, and faculty feedback. Course material at the College of Dentistry, University of Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates, was transformed into seven conventional lectures and seven TBL sessions. Each TBL session consisted of pre-assigned reading (self-directed learning), in-class individual and group readiness tests (accountability), team problem-solving of patient RDP cases, and faculty-led class discussion (knowledge application). The course was assessed through scores from TBL session activities and course examinations, student satisfaction survey, and faculty feedback. Course grades were found to be higher using the TBL method then the traditional lecture-based method. Student evaluation data and faculty response indicated strong support for TBL as it was implemented in the course. The faculty noted a higher level of student engagement with team learning than in conventional class lecturing. TBL is an active-learning instructional strategy for courses with high student-to-faculty ratios. This approach provides regular feedback and the opportunity for students to develop higher reasoning skills.

The movement and migration pattern of the 'Near Threatened' Sooty Falcon Falco concolor is poorly known. Sooty Falcons breed on the islands of the Arabian Gulf after arriving from their non-breeding areas that are mainly in Madagascar. In the first satellite tracking of the species we fitted a 9.5 g Argos solar powered transmitter on an adult breeding Sooty Falcon off the western coast of Abu Dhabi in the UnitedArabEmirates. The bird successfully undertook autumn migration to Madagascar, a known wintering area for the species. We document the Sooty Falcon's autumn migration route and stop-over sites. The adult Sooty Falcon initiated its migration at night and with tailwinds, and travelled mainly during daytime hours for 13 days over an inland route of more than 5,656 km. The three stop-over sites in East Africa were characterised by moderate to sparse shrub cover associated with potential sources of water. We discuss the migration pattern of the tracked bird in relation to importance of non-breeding areas for Sooty Falcons and recent declines in numbers in their breeding range.

Full Text Available Objectives: In 2008, the Gulf Medical College in the UnitedArabEmirates underwent a curricular change from a discipline-based to an organ-system-based integrated curriculum. In this context, this study aimed to compare the faculty and students’ perceptions of the student experiences with the new curriculum. Methods: Data were collected from faculty and second-year students in the integrated curriculum using the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM. Data collected were transferred to Predictive Analytics Software, Version 18. Global and domain scores were assessed with the Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test. Percentage agreement, disagreement and uncertainty were assessed by the z-test for proportion. Results: There were no significant differences between the total DREEM scores of faculty (139/200 and students (135/200. The faculty perceived that the students were experiencing significantly more positive learning as indicated by the domain score of “Students' Perceptions of Learning”. Proportions of agreement between faculty and students showed that more faculty members than students perceived the need for increased feedback to students and a greater emphasis on long term learning. Conclusion: The study showed that the faculty and students had similar perceptions about the student experiences in the integrated curriculum. Areas necessitating remedial measures were the need for faculty to learn constructive feedback techniques and an emphasis on long term learning in the new curriculum.

Interprofessional collaborative care has been shown to improve patient outcomes. Physicians' views on collaboration with pharmacists give an insight into what contributes to a well-functioning team. Little is known about these views from low and ​middle-income countries and nothing from the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The purpose of this study is to investigate physicians' opinions on collaborative relationships with community pharmacists in the UAE. Semi-structured individual interviews and group discussions are conducted with a purposive sample of physicians. Thematic analysis based on the framework approach is used to generate themes. A total of 53 physicians participated. Three themes about collaboration emerged: perceived benefits of collaboration, facilitators of collaboration and perceived barriers to collaboration. Perceived benefits include reducing the burden on physicians, having the pharmacist as an extra safety check within the system, having the pharmacist assist patients to manage their medications: coping with side effects, reducing drug waste and costs, and attaining professional and health-system gains. Perceived facilitators included awareness and trust building, professional role definition, pharmacists' access to patient records and effective communication. Perceived barriers included patient and physician acceptance, logistic and financial issues and perceived pharmacist competence. This study has, for the first time, provided useful information to inform the future development of pharmacist-physician collaboration in the UAE and other countries with similar healthcare systems.

Bed-parallel stylolites are a widespread diagenetic feature in Lower Cretaceous limestone reservoirs, Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Diagenetic calcite, dolomite, kaolin and small amounts of pyrite, fluorite, anhydrite and sphalerite occur along and in the vicinity of the stylolites. Petrographic observations, negative δ18OVPDB, fluid inclusion microthermometry, and enrichment in 87Sr suggest that these cements have precipitated from hot basinal brines, which migrated along the stylolites and genetically related microfractures (tension gashes). Fluid migration was presumably related to lateral tectonic compression events related to the foreland basin formation. The low solubility of Al3 + in formation waters suggests that kaolin precipitation was linked to derivation of organic acids during organic matter maturation, probably in siliciclastic source rocks. The mass released from stylolitization was presumably re-precipitated as macro- and microcrystalline calcite cement in the host limestones. The flanks of the oilfield (water zone) display more frequent presence and higher amplitude of stylolites, lower porosity and permeability, higher homogenization temperatures and more radiogenic composition of carbonates compared to the crest (oil zone). This indicates that oil emplacement retards diagenesis. This study demonstrates that stylolitization plays a crucial role in fluid flow and diagenesis of carbonate reservoirs during basin evolution.

DNA barcoding of UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) native plants is of high practical and scientific value as the plants adapt to very harsh environmental conditions that challenge their identification. Fifty-one plant species belonged to 22 families, 2 monocots, and 20 eudicots; a maximum number of species being legumes and grasses were collected. To authenticate the morphological identification of the wild plant taxa, rbcL and matK regions were used in the study. The primer universality and discriminatory power of rbcL is 100%, while it is 35% for matK locus for these plant species. The sequences were submitted to GenBank; accession numbers were obtained for all the rbcL sequences and for 6 of matK sequences. We suggest rbcL as a promising barcode locus for the tested group of 51 plants. In the present study, an inexpensive, simple method of identification of rare desert plant taxa through rbcL barcode is being reported.

Rapid economic and cultural transition in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has been accompanied by new challenges to public health; most notably a rapid rise in chronic disease. Breastfeeding is known to improve health outcomes in adulthood, is associated with reduced risk of developing chronic disease, and is therefore an important public health issue for this rapidly increasing population. Factors associated with infant feeding practices were examined in a cohort of 125 Emirati women and their infants, with data collected at birth and 3, 6 and 15 months postpartum by questionnaires and interviews. Participants were recruited in the Corniche Hospital, the main maternity hospital in the city of Abu Dhabi. Factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods were investigated using univariate and multivariate statistics. Recommended infant feeding practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and timely introduction of appropriate complementary foods, were poorly adhered to. Factors implicated in early cessation of breastfeeding included: time to first breastfeed, mother's education level, employment status and early introduction of complementary foods.

Although acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a curable hematologic malignancy, early death (ED) remains a significant cause of treatment failure especially in developing countries. In a retrospective data analysis of 67 adult APL patients diagnosed in UnitedArabEmirates we report an ED rate of 11.9% which is comparable to that reported from more developed countries. We identified the following parameters at presentation as significant predictor of increased ED: Age >40 years (P = 0.015), fever (P = 0.030), WBC count >20 × 10 9 /L (P = 0.010), the breakpoints other than bcr1 (P = 0.043) and fibrinogen level 10 × 10 9 /L and expression of HLA-DR (P = 0.018) or CD2 (P = 0.017) were significant predictors for differentiation syndrome (DS) which was found to be a predictor of ED (P = 0.002). Reducing the APL related ED rate in centers with limited resources is feasible provided early initiation of ATRA administration and early correction of coagulopathy in high-risk patients in addition to prompt treatment of DS. To our knowledge this is the first report from the Arabian Gulf describing ED in APL.

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has given great attention to the environment and sustainable development through applications of best practices of global standards that ensure optimal investment in natural resources. Since the UAE is located in an arid region which is known as dry, sandy and get a small amount of rainfall, thus the water resources are limited and accordingly, the government has initiated an integrated water resources management (IWRM) strategy to meet the increasing demands of water. Dams are considered as one of the important strategies that are suitable for this arid region. An event of rainfall if between heavy to severe in a short duration could cause flash floods and damages to population centers and areas of agriculture nearby. To prevent that from happening, several dams and barriers were built to protect human life and infrastructure. Besides contribution to enhance the water resources and use them optimally to irrigate the growing agricultural areas across the country. Geographically, most of the dams were located in the northern and eastern part of the UAE, around mountainous areas. This study aims to monitor the changes that occurred to five dams of the north-eastern region of the UAE during 2015 and 2016 through the use of remote sensing technology of optical images captured by "DubaiSat-2". The segmentation approach utilized in this study is based on a band ratio technique called Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI). The experimental results revealed that the proposed approach is efficient in detecting dams from multispectral satellite images.

Full Text Available Abstract Objective To describe current prevalence of obesity and related non-communicable diseases (NCDs in expatriates living in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. Methods We used data from the cross-sectional UAE National Diabetes and Lifestyle Study (UAEDIAB, which surveyed adult expatriates living in the UAE for at least 4 years. We report crude prevalence of overweight and obesity, indicated by gender and ethnicity-specific body mass index (BMI, waist circumference (WC and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR cut-offs, by lifestyle and biomedical characteristics, as well as age and sex-adjusted odds ratios. Results Out of a total of 3064 recruited expatriates (response rate 68%, 2724 had completed all stages of the UAEDIAB study. Expatriates were; 81% men, mean age 38 years (range 18–80, 71% South East Asians, and 36% university graduates. In this sample, the prevalence of overweight and obesity, by BMI, were 43.0 and 32.3%, respectively. 52.4 and 56.5% of participants were at a substantially increased risk according to WC and WHR, respectively. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were 15.5, 31.8, and 51.7%, respectively, with the prevalence of each being higher in those with obesity. Conclusion Prevalence of obesity and associated NCDs are extremely high in UAE expatriates. Without comprehensive prevention and management, levels of disease will continue to increase and productivity will fall.

Waste management involves various procedures and resources for proper handling of waste materials in compliance with health codes and environmental regulations. Landfills are one of the oldest, most convenient, and cheapest methods to deposit waste. However, landfill utilization involves social, environmental, geotechnical, cost, and restrictive regulation considerations. For instance, landfills are considered a source of hazardous air pollutants that can cause health and environmental problems related to landfill gas and non-methanic organic compounds. The increasing number of sensors and availability of remotely sensed images along with rapid development of spatial technology are helping with effective landfill site selection. The present study used fuzzy membership and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in a geo-spatial environment for landfill site selection in the city of Sharjah, UnitedArabEmirates. Macro- and micro-level factors were considered; the macro-level contained social and economic factors, while the micro-level accounted for geo-environmental factors. The weighted spatial layers were combined to generate landfill suitability and overall suitability index maps. Sensitivity analysis was then carried out to rectify initial theoretical weights. The results showed that 30.25% of the study area had a high suitability index for landfill sites in the Sharjah, and the most suitable site was selected based on weighted factors. The developed fuzzy-AHP methodology can be applied in neighboring regions with similar geo-natural conditions.

Background. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a public health concern in adults worldwide. This study aims to explore the extent of VDD and its associated factors among adults in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Subjects and Methods. Quantitative, cross-sectional research was used to assess VDD and its associated factors in 216 adults recruited from randomly selected community-based healthcare settings over a six-month period. Recent values of vitamin D and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were abstracted from medical records, followed by interviews with participants to obtain information on factors related to VDD and other covariates and to measure their heights and weights. Results. A total of 74% of participants demonstrated VDD (vitamin D serum level ≤ 30 nmol/L). Emirati participants had higher odds of having VDD compared to non-Emiratis (OR: 2.95; 95% CI: 1.58–5.52), with also significantly increased odds of the condition appearing in older, less educated, and employed adults. Diabetes type 2 (HbA1c ≥ 6.5%), depression, and obesity were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of VDD after accounting for other covariates. Conclusion. VDD is a significant problem for UAE adults and requires attention by public health policy makers. Diabetes, obesity, and depression need to be considered when screening for vitamin D. PMID:28352281

building, on January 4, 2010. Burj al - Arab hotel in Dubai bills itself as “world’s only 7-star hotel.” Abu Dhabi has built local branches of Guggenheim...many Arab , South Asian, and European expatriates. In Ras al -Khaymah, there was a brief leadership struggle upon the October 27, 2010, death of the...April 2013, UAE authorities arrested seven non-UAE Arab nationals allegedly affiliated with Al Qaeda. In May 2014, the UAE tried nine people on charges

The prevalence rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the highest in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), however data for the expatriate population is limited. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of T2DM amongst migrant women and test the hypothesis that acculturation (measured by years of residency) is associated with an increased risk of T2DM. This was a cross-sectional study and we recruited a representative sample (n = 599, 75% participation rate) of migrant women aged 18 years and over in Al Ain, UAE. The American Diabetes Association criteria were used to diagnose T2DM. An adapted WHO STEPS questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic, lifestyle and clinical data. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify correlates of T2DM including length of UAE residence. The mean age of participants was 34.1 (± 9.5) years. Of the study participants, based on HbA1C levels, 18.6% (95% CI: 13.9-24.4) had prediabetes and 10.7% (95% CI: 7.2-15.6) had T2DM. Prevalence of prediabetes was 8.5% for Filipinos, 16.7% for Arabs and 30.3% for South Asians. Similarly the prevalence of T2DM was 1.7% for Filipinos, 12.2% for Arabs and 16.7% for South Asians. Significant correlates of overall T2DM (measured and known diabetes) included length of UAE residence for more than 10 years (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 2.74, 95% CI: 1.21-6.20), age ≥40 years (AOR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.53-7.87) and South Asian nationality (AOR 2.10, 95% CI: 0.94-4.70). Diabetes is a significant public health problem among migrant women in the UAE, particularly for South Asians. Longer length of residence in the UAE is associated with a higher prevalence of diabetes.

Breastfeeding is the preferred method of feeding for the infant. The present study aimed at investigating the different infant feeding practices and the influencing factors in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). A convenient sample of 593 Emirati mothers who had infants up to 2 years of age was interviewed. The interviews included a detailed questionnaire and conducted in the Maternal and Child Health Centers (MCH) and Primary Health Centers (PHC) in three cities. Almost all the mothers in the study had initiated breastfeeding (98%). The mean duration of breastfeeding was 8.6 months. The initiation and duration of breastfeeding rates were influenced by mother's age (Pbreastfeeding practices. Among the 593 infants in the study, 24.1% had complementary feeding, 25% of the infants were exclusively breastfed, and 49.4% were predominantly breastfed since birth. About 30% of the infants were given nonmilk fluids such as: Anis seed drink (Yansun), grippe water and tea before 3 months of age. The majority of the infants (83.5%) in the three areas received solid food before the age of 6 months. A variety of reasons were reported as perceived by mothers for terminating breastfeeding. The most common reasons were: new pregnancy (32.5%), insufficient milk supply (24.4%) and infant weaned itself (24.4%). In conclusion, infant and young child feeding practices in this study were suboptimal. There is a need for a national community-based breastfeeding intervention programme and for the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding as part of a primary public health strategy to decrease health risks and problems in the UAE.

Full Text Available Background: The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE is a rapidly developing country composed of a multinational population with varying educational backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural practices, which pose a challenge for population-based public health strategies. A number of public health issues significantly contribute to morbidity and mortality in the UAE. This article summarises the findings of a panel of medical and public health specialists from UAE University and various government health agencies commissioned to report on the health status of the UAE population. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted to retrieve peer-reviewed articles on health in the UAE, and unpublished data were provided by government health authorities and local hospitals. Results: The panel reviewed and evaluated all available evidence to list and rank (1=highest priority the top four main public health issues: 1 Cardiovascular disease accounted for more than 25% of deaths in 2010; 2 Injury caused 17% of mortality for all age groups in 2010; 3 Cancer accounted for 10% of all deaths in 2010, and the incidence of all cancers is projected to double by 2020; and 4 Respiratory disorders were the second most common non-fatal condition in 2010. Conclusion: The major public health challenges posed by certain personal (e.g. ethnicity, family history, lifestyle, occupational, and environmental factors associated with the development of chronic disease are not isolated to the UAE; rather, they form part of a global health problem, which requires international collaboration and action. Future research should focus on population-based public health interventions that target the factors associated with the development of various chronic diseases.

Irrigated plantations and modified terrain can provide a sustainable means of enhancing convective rainfall in arid regions like the UnitedArabEmirates, or UAE, and can be used to aid ongoing cloud seeding operations through the geographic-localization of seedable cloud formation. The first method, the planting of vast irrigated plantations of hardy desert shrubs, can lead to wind convergence and vertical mixing through increased roughness and modified radiative balances. When upper-air atmospheric instability is present, these phenomena can initiate convection. The second method, increasing the elevation of moderate-sized mountains, is based on the correlation between elevation and the number of summertime convection initiation events observed in the mountains of the UAE and Oman. This augmentation of existing orographic features should therefore increase the likelihood and geographic range of convection initiation events. High-resolution simulations provide a powerful means of assessing the likely impacts of land surface modifications. Previous convection-permitting simulations have yielded some evidential support for these hypotheses, but higher resolutions down to 1 km provide more detail regarding convective processes and land surface representation. Using seasonal simulations with the WRF-NOAHMP land-atmosphere model at a 2.5 km resolution, we identify frequent zones of convergence and atmospheric instability in the UAE and select interesting cases. Using these results, as well as an agricultural feasibility study, we identify optimal plantation positions within the UAE. We then run realistic plantation scenarios for single case studies at 1 km resolution. Using the same cases, we simulate the impact of augmenting mountain elevations on convective processes, with the augmentation being achieved through GIS-based modification of the terrain data. For both methods, we assess the impacts quantitatively and qualitatively, and assess key processes and

Although, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has one of the highest prevalence of overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes in the world, however, validated dietary assessment aids to estimate food intake of individuals and populations in the UAE are currently lacking. We conducted two observational studies to evaluate the accuracy of a photographic food atlas which was developed as a tool for food portion size estimation in the UAE. The UAE Food Atlas presents eight portion sizes for each food. Study 1 involved portion size estimations of 13 food items consumed during the previous day. Study 2 involved portion size estimations of nine food items immediately after consumption. Differences between the food portion sizes estimated from the photographs and the weighed food portions (estimation error), as well as the percentage differences relative to the weighed food portion for each tested food item were calculated. Four of the evaluated food items were underestimated (by -8.9% to -18.4%), while nine were overestimated (by 9.5% to 90.9%) in Study 1. Moreover, there were significant differences between estimated and eaten food portions for eight food items (Pfood item was underestimated (-8.1%) while eight were overestimated (range 2.52% to 82.1%). Furthermore, there were significant differences between estimated and eaten food portions (Pfood items. The limits of agreement between the estimated and consumed food portion size were wide indicating a large variability in food portion estimation errors. These reported findings highlight the need for further developments of the UAE Food Atlas to improve the accuracy of food portion size intake estimations in dietary assessments. Additionally, recalling food portions from the previous day did not seem to increase food portion estimation errors in this study. PMID:29698434

Highlights: • Performance evaluation of open-cathode PEM fuel cell stacks with forced air-convection. • Stack performance can vary up to 40% from winter to summer. • Hot and arid condition leads to membrane drying and performance deterioration. • Anode humidification improves the stack performance up to 40% during summer. - Abstract: The open-cathode polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack has been a promising candidate as a sustainable energy conversion system for replacing fossil fuel-based energy conversion devices in portable and automotive applications. As the ambient air is directly used to provide both oxidant and cooling, the complex cooling loop can be avoided which reduces the complexity and cost. However, the stack performance is highly affected by ambient conditions, i.e., ambient temperature and humidity. In this study, the effect of monthly ambient air conditions (temperature and humidity) is evaluated with respect to the stack’s power production performance as well as thermal, water and gas management by employing a validated three-dimensional open-cathode PEM fuel cell stack model. The annual climate data from the hot and arid environment of Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) are used as a case study. The objective is to develop a better fundamental understanding of the interactions of physical phenomena in a fuel cell stack, which can assist in improving the performance and operation of an open-cathode PEM fuel cell-powered vehicle. The results indicate that the stack performance can vary significantly (up to 40%) from winter to summer, especially at high operating currents, with significant changes in the stack temperature and the water content at the membrane. Moreover, the anode humidification results in a significant improvement in the stack performance (up to 40%) in hot and dry conditions. However, a careful balance has to be struck between the humidifier parasitic load and the stack power.

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) is faced with a rapidly increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The UAE Healthy Future study is a prospective cohort designed to identify associations between risk factors and these diseases amongst Emiratis. The study will enroll 20,000 UAE nationals aged ≥18 years. Environmental and genetic risk factors will be characterized and participants will be followed for future disease events. As this was the first time a prospective cohort study was being planned in the UAE, a pilot study was conducted in 2015 with the primary aim of establishing the feasibility of conducting the study. Other objectives were to evaluate the implementation of the main study protocols, and to build adequate capacity to conduct advanced clinical laboratory analyses. Seven hundred sixty nine UAE nationals aged ≥18 years were invited to participate voluntarily in the pilot study. Participants signed an informed consent, completed a detailed questionnaire, provided random blood, urine, and mouthwash samples and were assessed for a series of clinical measures. All specimens were transported to the New York University Abu Dhabi laboratories where samples were processed and analyzed for routine chemistry and hematology. Plasma, serum, and a small whole blood sample for DNA extraction were aliquoted and stored at -80 °C for future analyses. Overall, 517 Emirati men and women agreed to participate (68% response rate). Of the total participants, 495 (95.0%), 430 (82.2%), and 492 (94.4%), completed the questionnaire, physical measurements, and provided biological samples, respectively. The pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of recruitment and completion of the study protocols for the first large-scale cohort study designed to identify emerging risk factors for the major non-communicable diseases in the region.

Mutations in the gap junction protein beta 2 (GJB2) gene are responsible for more cases of nonsyndromic recessive hearing loss than any other gene. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of GJB2 mutations among affected individuals from UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). There were 50 individuals diagnosed with hereditary hearing loss and 120 healthy individuals enrolled in the study. The Sanger sequencing method was used to screen the GJB2 coding region in all affected individuals. The c.-1G>A variant was determined by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method in normal individuals. Nine cases with bi-allelic mutations and three cases with mono-allelic mutations were detected in 12 out of 50 patients (24%). The homozygous mutation c.35delG was identified as the cause of hearing loss in six participants (12%). The mutation c.506G>A was identified in three affected individuals (6%). The allelic frequency (14%) and low percentage of individuals that were homozygous (2%) for the c.35delG mutation suggest that there are other genes responsible for nonsyndromic deafness in the UAE population. The results reported here are a preliminary step in collecting epidemiological data regarding autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss related to GJB2 gene mutations among the UAE population. The c.35delG mutation of the GJB2 gene is the most frequently seen causative mutation in the UAE and is followed by the p.Cys169Tyr mutation.

Background Specific centile growth charts for children with Down syndrome (DS) have been produced in many countries and are known to differ from those of normal children. Since growth assessment depends on the growth pattern characteristic for these conditions, disorder-specific charts are desirable for various ethnic groups. Aims To provide cross-sectional weight, height, and head circumference (HC) references for healthy UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) children with DS. Methods A retrospective and cross-sectional growth study of Emirati children with DS, aged 0 to 18 years old, was conducted. Height, weight, and HC were measured in each child. Cole’s LMS statistical method was applied to estimate age-specific percentiles, and measurements were compared to UAE reference values for normal children. Results Incidence of DS in the UAE population is 1 in 374 live births (267 in 10 000 live births). We analyzed 1263 growth examinations of 182 children with DS born between 1994 and 2012. The male-to-female ratio was 1.6:1. Height, weight, and HC centile charts were constructed for ages 0 to 13 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in DS children aged 10 to 13 years of age was 32% and 19%, respectively. The DS children were significantly shorter and heavier than normal children in the UAE. Conclusions Weight, height, and HC growth charts were created for children with DS. These can be used as a reference standard for the UAE children with DS. Overweight and obesity are quite common in DS children ≥10 years of age, as DS children tend to be shorter and heavier than non-DS children. PMID:25196167

Strong sensible heat fluxes and deep turbulent mixing - together with marked dustiness and a low substrate water content - represent a characteristic signature in the boundary layer over hot deserts, resulting in "thicker" mixing layers and peculiar optical properties. Beside these main features however, desert ABLs present extremely complex local structures that have been scarcely addressed in the literature, and whose understanding is essential in modeling processes such as the transport of dust and pollutants, and turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat and water vapor in hyper-arid regions. In this study, we analyze a continuous record of observations of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height from a single lens LiDAR ceilometer operated at Masdar Institute Field Station (24.4oN, 54.6o E, Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates), starting March 2013. We compare different methods for the estimation of the ABL height from Ceilometer data such as, classic variance-, gradient-, log gradient- and second derivation-methods as well as recently developed techniques such as the Bayesian Method and Wavelet covariance transform. Our goal is to select the most suited technique for describing the climatology of the ABL in desert environments. Comparison of our results with radiosonde observations collected at the nearby airport of Abu Dhabi indicate that the WCT and the Bayesian method are the most suitable tools to accurately identify the ABL height in all weather conditions. These two methods are used for the definition of diurnal and seasonal climatologies of the boundary layer conditional to different atmospheric stability classes.

Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the psychological health of first-year health professional students and to study sources of student stress. Methods: All first-year students (N = 125 of the Gulf Medical University (GMU in Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE, were invited to participate in a voluntary, anonymous, self-administered, questionnaire-based survey in January 2011. Psychological health was assessed using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. A 24-item questionnaire, with items related to academic, psychosocial and health domains was used to identify sources of stress. Pearson’s chi-squared test and the Mann-Whitney U-test were used for testing the association between psychological morbidity and sources of stress. Results: A total of 112 students (89.6% completed the survey and the overall prevalence of psychological morbidity was found to be 33.6%. The main academic-related sources of stress were ‘frequency of exams’, ‘academic workload’, and ‘time management’. Major psychosocial stressors were ‘worries regarding future’, ‘high parental expectations’, ‘anxiety’, and ‘dealing with members of the opposite sex’. Health-related issues were ‘irregular eating habits’, ‘lack of exercise’, and ‘sleep-related problems’. Psychological morbidity was not significantly associated with any of the demographic factors studied. However, total stress scores and academics-related domain scores were significantly associated with psychological morbidity. Conclusion: Psychological morbidity was seen in one in three first-year students attending GMU. While worries regarding the future and parental expectations were sources of stress for many students, psychological morbidity was found to be significantly associated with only the total stress and the academic-related domain scores.

Heart failure (HF) is a serious complication of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), and is associated with high in-hospital mortality and poor long-term survival. The aims of this study were to describe the clinical characteristics, management and in-hospital outcomes of coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with HF in the UnitedArabEmirates. The study was selected from the Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events (Gulf RACE), a prospective multi-national, multicenter registry of patients hospitalized with ACS in six Middle East countries. The present analysis was focused on participants admitted to various hospitals in the UAE with a diagnosis of ACS in 2007 and were analyzed in terms of HF (Killip class II/III and IV) on admission. Of 1691 patients (mean age: 52.6 ± 11.7 years; 210 Females, 1481 Males) with ACS, 356 (21%) had an admission diagnosis of HF (Killip class II/III and IV). HF patients were less frequently males (19.2% vs. 34.3%; P

Background The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) is a rapidly developing country composed of a multinational population with varying educational backgrounds, religious beliefs, and cultural practices, which pose a challenge for population-based public health strategies. A number of public health issues significantly contribute to morbidity and mortality in the UAE. This article summarises the findings of a panel of medical and public health specialists from UAE University and various government health agencies commissioned to report on the health status of the UAE population. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted to retrieve peer-reviewed articles on health in the UAE, and unpublished data were provided by government health authorities and local hospitals. Results The panel reviewed and evaluated all available evidence to list and rank (1=highest priority) the top four main public health issues: 1) Cardiovascular disease accounted for more than 25% of deaths in 2010; 2) Injury caused 17% of mortality for all age groups in 2010; 3) Cancer accounted for 10% of all deaths in 2010, and the incidence of all cancers is projected to double by 2020; and 4) Respiratory disorders were the second most common non-fatal condition in 2010. Conclusion The major public health challenges posed by certain personal (e.g. ethnicity, family history), lifestyle, occupational, and environmental factors associated with the development of chronic disease are not isolated to the UAE; rather, they form part of a global health problem, which requires international collaboration and action. Future research should focus on population-based public health interventions that target the factors associated with the development of various chronic diseases. PMID:23394856

New dental schools have been established to train dentists in many parts of the world. This study examines the future dental workforce from the first dental school in the UnitedArabEmirates [UAE]; the aim of this study was to explore the short and long-term career aspirations of the final year dental students in the UAE in relation to their demography. Final year dental students of the Ajman University's College of Dentistry (n=87) were invited to participate in a self-completion questionnaire survey. Descriptive analysis, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression analysis were carried out on career aspirations using SPSS v20. Eighty-two percent of students (n=71) responded, the majority of whom were female (65%; n=46). Ethnicity was reported as: 'other Arab' (61%; n=43), 'Emirati' (17%, n=12), and 'Other' (21%, n=15). In the short-term, 41% (n=29) expressed a desire to work in government training centres, with Emirati students significantly more likely to do so (p=0.002). 'Financial stability' (80%; n=57) and 'gaining professional experience' (76%; n=54) emerged as the most important influences on their short-term career plans. The vast majority of students wished to specialise in dentistry (92%; n=65) in the longer term; logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of specialising in the most popular specialties of Orthodontics and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery were less for the 'Other' ethnic group when compared with 'Emirati' students (0.26; 95% CI 0.068-0.989; p=0.04). Almost three-quarters of the students overall (72%; n=51) intended to work full-time. 'High income/financial security' (97%; n=69), 'standard of living' (97%; n=69), 'work/life balance' (94%; n=67), and 'professional fulfilment' (87%; n=62) were reported by the students as the most influential items affecting their long-term professional career choices. The findings suggest that students aspire to make a long-term contribution to the profession and there is a high level of

The text of the Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the UnitedArabEmirates and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members. The Board of Governors approved the Additional Protocol on 3 March 2009. It was signed in Vienna on 8 April 2009. Pursuant to Article 17 of the Additional Protocol, the Protocol entered into force on 20 December 2010, the date on which the Agency received from the UnitedArabEmirates written notification that the UnitedArabEmirates' statutory and constitutional requirements for entry into force had been met [es

The text of the Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the UnitedArabEmirates and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members. The Board of Governors approved the Additional Protocol on 3 March 2009. It was signed in Vienna on 8 April 2009. Pursuant to Article 17 of the Additional Protocol, the Protocol entered into force on 20 December 2010, the date on which the Agency received from the UnitedArabEmirates written notification that the UnitedArabEmirates' statutory and constitutional requirements for entry into force had been met

The text of the Agreement (and the Protocol thereto) between the UnitedArabEmirates and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members. The Safeguards Agreement was approved by the Board of Governors on 28 November 2002. It was signed in Abu Dhabi on 15 December 2002. Pursuant to Article 24 of the Safeguards Agreement, the Agreement entered into force on 9 October 2003, the date upon which the Agency received from the UnitedArabEmirates written notification that the UnitedArabEmirates' statutory and constitutional requirements for entry into force had been met

Objective: To assess knowledge regarding colorectal cancer (CRC) and to identify its predictors in the UAE. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among subjects ≥ 50 years-old, using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Awareness of CRC risk factors, warning signs/symptoms (S/S), and screening methods was evaluated with a level of knowledge score for various areas. Low (poor) knowledge was defined as a score below the corresponding average value. The Chi-square test and logistic regression were used in the statistical analysis. Results: The percentage of respondents who had poor knowledge score concerning risk factors, warning S/S and screening were 81.7%, 84.7% and 94.1% respectively. Male and lower education level subjects had significantly higher probability of low knowledge related to risk factors and warning S/S. Also respondents without a family history of CRC or personal history of polyps had a significantly higher probability of low knowledge concerning warning S/S compared to those who had a positive history. Significantly higher probability of low knowledge concerning screening methods was noted among non-Arabs and subjects with a lower education level. Conclusion: Most of the respondents had poor knowledge. Gender, education level, family and personal history and ethnicity were found to be significant predictors of CRC knowledge. Creative Commons Attribution License

Full Text Available Objectives: The objective of the following study is to estimate the prevalence of self-medication among university students and evaluate factors associated with the practice. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted during May, 2012 using a pre-validated questionnaire distributed to 250 students of the 4 years of study at the college of business administration. Data were analyzed using PASW Statistics for Windows, Version 18.0. Chicago: SPSS Inc and results are expressed as counts and percentages. Chi-square test was used to evaluate significant association among the study variables and P < 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Results: The response rate was 80% and all respondents were Arabs with 114 (57% females and 86 (43% males. Self-medication was practiced by 118 (59% students and most (88.1% of them obtained medications from pharmacies. About 21 (11% respondents self-medicated with antibiotics. Only 34 (17% and 16 (8% of respondents were aware of bacterial resistance and rational drug use respectively. The most common reasons for self-medication were seeking quick relief (134, 67%, physician′s advice of self-management (100, 50%, illness is minor (91, 45.5%. Common reasons against self-medication include risk of misdiagnosis of illness (160, 80%, risk of using the wrong medication (154, 77%, risk of adverse effects (140, 70%. Self-medication was practiced for headache or mild pain, eye and ear symptoms, gastric problems, cold, fever and allergy. Conclusion: Self-medication among non-healthcare students is common with high prevalence. Knowledge of students of reasons for and against self-medication was adequate, but awareness of respondents of rational drug use and risk of bacterial resistance in response to misuse was poor. Orientation courses/workshops directed to university students would be beneficial.

On 18 March 2012, a super dust storm event occurred over Middle East (ME) and lasted for several hours. Following to this, another dust storm occurred on early morning of 20 March 2012 with almost higher intensity. Both these storms reduced the horizontal visibility to few hundreds of meters and represented as one of the most intense and long duration dust storms over UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) in recent times. These storms also reduced the air quality in most parts of the ME implying the shutdown of Airports, schools and hundreds of people were hospitalized with respirational problems. In the context of the above, we have made a detailed study on the dynamical processes leading to triggering of dust storm over UAE and neighboring regions. We have also analyzed its impact on surface, and vertical profiles of background parameters and aerosols during the dust storm period by using ground-based, space borne, dust forecasting model, and reanalysis data sets. The synoptic and dynamic conditions responsible for the occurrence of the dust storm are discussed extensively by using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA interim reanalysis data sets. The Impact of dust storm on surface and upper air radiosonde measurements and aerosol optical properties are also investigated before, during and after the dust storm event. During the dust storm, surface temperature decreased by 15oC when compared to before and after the event. PM10 values significantly increased maximum of about 1600µg/m3. Spatial variation of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aerosol index (AI) exhibited very high values during the event and source region can be identified of dust transport to our region with this figure. The total attenuated backscatter at 550nm from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite shows the vertical extent of dust up to 8km. The dynamics of this event is

Full Text Available Amena Sadiya,1,* Sarah Abdi,1,* Salah Abusnana2 1Lifestyle Clinic, 2Research and Education Department, Rashid Center for Diabetes and Research, Ajman, UnitedArabEmirates *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Lifestyle Intervention for Weight Loss (LIFE-8 is developed as a structured, group-based weight management program for Emiratis with obesity and type 2 diabetes. It is a 3-month program followed by a 1-year follow-up. The results from the first 2 years are presented here to indicate the possibility of its further adaptation and implementation in this region. Methodology: We recruited 45 participants with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. The LIFE-8 program was executed by incorporating dietary modification, physical activity, and behavioral therapy, aiming to achieve up to 5% weight loss. The outcomes included body weight, fat mass, waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose (FBG, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, and nutritional knowledge at 3 months and 12 months. Results: We observed a reduction of 5.0% in body weight (4.8±2.8 kg; 95% CI 3.7–5.8, fat mass (–7.8%, P<0.01, and waist circumference (Δ=4±4 cm, P<0.01 in the completed participants (n=28. An improvement (P<0.05 in HbA1c (7.1%±1.0% vs 6.6%±0.7% and FBG (8.2±2.0 mmol/L vs 6.8±0.8 mmol/L was observed in participants with obesity and type 2 diabetes after the program. Increase in nutritional knowledge (<0.01 and overall evaluation of the program (9/10 was favorable. On 1-year follow-up, we found that the participants could sustain weight loss (–4.0%, while obese, type 2 diabetic participants sustained HbA1c (6.6%±0.7% vs 6.4%±0.7% and further improved (P<0.05 the level of FBG (6.8±0.8 mmol/L vs 6.7±0.4 mmol/L. Conclusion: LIFE-8 could be an effective, affordable, acceptable, and adaptable lifestyle intervention program for the prevention and management of diabetes in Emiratis. It was successful not

Gravity and aeromagnetic data covering the whole territory of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) have been used to evaluate both shallow and deep geological structures, in particular the depth to basement since it is not imaged by seismic data anywhere within the UAE. Thus, the aim has been to map the basement so that its structure can help to assess its control on the distribution of hydrocarbons within the UAE. Power spectrum analysis reveals gravity and magnetic signatures to have some similarities, in having two main density/susceptibility interfaces widely separated in depth such that regional-residual anomaly separation could effectively be undertaken. The upper density/susceptibility interface occurs at a depth of about 1.0 km while the deeper interface varies in depth throughout the UAE. For gravity, this deeper interface is assumed to be due to the combined effect of lateral changes in density structures within the sediments and in depth of basement while for magnetics it is assumed the sediments have negligible susceptibility and the anomalies unrelated to the volcanic/magmatic bodies result from only changes in depth to basement. The power spectrum analysis over the suspect volcanic/magmatic bodies indicates they occur at 5 km depth. The finite tilt-depth and finite local wavenumber methods were used to estimate depth to source and only depths that agree to within 10% of each other were used to generate the depth to basement map. This depth to basement map, to the west of the UAE-Oman Mountains, varies in depth from 5 km to in excess of 15 km depth and is able to structurally account for the location of the shear structures, seen in the residual magnetic data, and the location of the volcanic/magmatic centres relative to a set of elongate N-S to NE-SW trending basement highs. The majority of oilfields in the UAE are located within these basement highs. Therefore, the hydrocarbon distribution in the UAE basin appears to be controlled by the location of the

Background Self-medication, often without adult guidance, has been reported to be a common practice during adolescence. Similar to other preventable health-risk behaviors initiated in early adolescence, it has become a cause for concern universally. Objective This study examines the prevalence of self-medication with both prescribed and non-prescribed (OTC) medications, related health complaints, sources of drugs, and sources of drug recommendation, and gender differences related to self-medication among expatriate high school students in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 324 expatriate students through a validated, self-administered questionnaire and data was analyzed using SPSS 19 version. Means and proportions were calculated and Pearson Chi-square test of significance was used to analyze association among variables. Results Majority of the participating students, almost equally distributed by gender, was aged 16 to 17 years. The period prevalence rate of self-medication with prescribed and OTC medications were 89.2%, which did not vary with age, gender, ethnicity or parents’ educational level. The most common sources of drug and drug recommendation were community pharmacies and parents respectively. Headache and fever were the common self-medicated conditions and consequently, analgesics and antipyretics were most commonly used both in the previous two weeks and the previous year prior to the survey. A high prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics (53%) and sedative/hypnotics (27%) was also observed. A female excess emerged for certain health complaints and use of medicines except for the use of anti-allergic and herbal/homeopathic drugs. Conclusions This is the first study to explore self-medication practices among high school students in UAE and provides baseline data critical in creating awareness about the risks and benefits of self-medication. Health care providers, educators and parents should be

funds on elaborate projects that cater to tourists. The leadership has resisted any dramatic or rapid further opening of the political process and has...allowed Ariana Afghan airlines to operate direct service between the two countries. After the September 11, 2011 attacks, the UAE helped the United States

... Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). While HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs... movement charges, direct selling expenses, and packing. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.403(c), and in accordance... U.S. sales, we examine selling functions along the chain of distribution between the respondent and...

This paper explores the meaning of childhood within the realms of play and attachment. Are parental attitudes and expectations, with the use of technology and prescriptive toys, limiting development in children today? Children's play in homes in the UnitedArabEmirates is examined to explore how children in this region play and whether the…

Full Text Available AIM: To study the mechanism of road traffic collisions (RTC, use of safety devices, and outcome of hospitalized pediatric and youth RTC injured patients so as to give recommendations regarding prevention of pediatric RTC injuries. METHODS: All RTC injured children and youth (0-19-year-olds who were admitted to Al Ain City's two major trauma centers or who died after arrival to these centers were prospectively studied from April 2006 to October 2007. Demography of patients, road-user and vehicle types, crash mechanism, usage of safety devices, injured body regions, injury severity, Revised Trauma Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, intensive care unit admissions, hospital stay and mortality were analyzed. RESULTS: 245 patients were studied, 69% were vehicle occupants, 15% pedestrians, 9% motorcyclists and 5% bicyclists. 79% were males and 67% UAE citizens. The most common mechanism of RTC was rollover of vehicle (37% followed by front impact collision (32%. 32 (13% of vehicle occupants were ejected from car. 63% of ejected occupants and 70% of motorcyclists sustained head injuries. Only 2% (3/170 vehicle passengers used seatbelts and 13% (3/23 motorcyclists a helmet. CONCLUSIONS: Male drivers and UAE nationals were at high risk of RTC as drivers and as motorcyclists. Ejection rate was high because safety restraint use was extremely low in our community. More education and law enforcement focusing especially on car/booster seat use is needed.

To study the mechanism of road traffic collisions (RTC), use of safety devices, and outcome of hospitalized pediatric and youth RTC injured patients so as to give recommendations regarding prevention of pediatric RTC injuries. All RTC injured children and youth (0-19-year-olds) who were admitted to Al Ain City's two major trauma centers or who died after arrival to these centers were prospectively studied from April 2006 to October 2007. Demography of patients, road-user and vehicle types, crash mechanism, usage of safety devices, injured body regions, injury severity, Revised Trauma Score, Glasgow Coma Scale, intensive care unit admissions, hospital stay and mortality were analyzed. 245 patients were studied, 69% were vehicle occupants, 15% pedestrians, 9% motorcyclists and 5% bicyclists. 79% were males and 67% UAE citizens. The most common mechanism of RTC was rollover of vehicle (37%) followed by front impact collision (32%). 32 (13%) of vehicle occupants were ejected from car. 63% of ejected occupants and 70% of motorcyclists sustained head injuries. Only 2% (3/170) vehicle passengers used seatbelts and 13% (3/23) motorcyclists a helmet. Male drivers and UAE nationals were at high risk of RTC as drivers and as motorcyclists. Ejection rate was high because safety restraint use was extremely low in our community. More education and law enforcement focusing especially on car/booster seat use is needed.

Abstract It is well recognized that nurse-leader-managers play an important role in facilitating the quality and nature of hospital care, the improvement of work performance and work satisfaction. In the UnitedArabEmirates they face the additional challenge of working within a context of significant linguistic and cultural diversity where leadership in the provision of culturally competent care is a major requirement. With this goal at the fore, a sample of 153 nurse-leader-managers, including matrons, nursing directors, supervisors, nurses-in-charge and in-service education staff from 4 private and 6 government hospitals completed the multifactor leadership questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 2004). The survey also explored participants' perceptions of the characteristics of good leaders and what they needed to do in their particular work place to enhance culturally competent care. The results showed nurse-leader-managers used both transformational and transactional leadership attributes but in different combinations across the two hospital types.

As the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) moves towards a knowledge-based economy, maximising the participation of the national workforce, especially women, in the transformation process is crucial. Using survey methods and semi-structured interviews, this paper examines the factors that influence women's decisions regarding their degree programme and their attitudes towards science, technology and engineering (STE). The findings point to the importance of adapting mainstream policies to the local context and the need to better understand the effect of culture and society on the individual and the economy. There is a need to increase interest in STE by raising awareness of what the fields entail, potential careers and their suitability with existing cultural beliefs. Also suggested is the need to overcome negative stereotypes of engineering, implement initiatives for further family involvement at the higher education level, as well as the need to ensure a greater availability of STE university programmes across the UAE.

The UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) has experienced tremendous economic and industrial growth in the petroleum, airline, maritime and construction sectors, especially since the discovery of oil reserves. Mass recruitment of low skilled or unskilled laborers from less-developed countries has been utilized to satisfy the manpower demands of these fast paced industrial developments. Such workforce recruitment has created an unusual populace demographic, with the total UAE population estimated at 8.3 million, composed of 950,000 Emiratis, with the remainder being multinational expatriate workers, with varying educational qualifications, work experience, religious beliefs, cultural practices, and native languages. These unique characteristics pose a challenge for health and safety professionals tasked with ensuring the UAE workforce adheres to specific occupational health and safety procedures. The paper discusses two case studies that employ a novel multimedia approach to raising health and safety awareness among a multinational workforce. PMID:23251846

The referred article main focus is to illustrate a parameter between the UnitedArabEmirates development - from its oil historic (including its peek, in the 1970's decade) - and the country preoccupation with the economic diversification, considering that the petroleum natural deposits are finite. Even though they are one of the biggest petroleum holders in the world, the country governors are already worried about the economy's future. The government proposal consists in investing their exorbitant royalties, from the oil industry, in mega constructions and 'futuristic' innovations, mainly in Dubai. According to forecasts made by the division of active and investments management from the Saudi bank National Commercial Bank (in the beginning of the year of 2008) the UnitedArabEmirates might become the country with the most independence in the oil and gas industry between the Gulf Cooperation Council members and that about 70% of the country's GDP, gross domestic production, will come from the non-hydrocarbon sectors. This means that the UnitedArabEmirates can be considered as a good example in which refers to the regional economy diversification. (author)

This Agreement between France and the UnitedArabEmirates came into force on the day of its signature. It provides that France will provide the necessary technical assistance to the UnitedArabEmirates for the preparation of a nuclear energy development programme, covering in particular, electricity generation and water desalination. The Agreement covers a period of three years and is automatically renewable unless otherwise decided. (NEA) [fr

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ is one of the most commonly used tools in epidemiologic studies to assess long-term nutritional exposure. The purpose of this study is to describe the development of a culture specific FFQ for Arab populations in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE and Kuwait. Methods We interviewed samples of Arab populations over 18 years old in UAE and Kuwait assessing their dietary intakes using 24-hour dietary recall. Based on the most commonly reported foods and portion sizes, we constructed a food list with the units of measurement. The food list was converted to a Semi-Quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (SFFQ format following the basic pattern of SFFQ using usual reported portions. The long SFFQ was field-tested, shortened and developed into the final SFFQ. To estimate nutrients from mixed dishes we collected recipes of those mixed dishes that were commonly eaten, and estimated their nutritional content by using nutrient values of the ingredients that took into account method of preparation from the US Department of Agriculture's Food Composition Database. Results The SFFQs consist of 153 and 152 items for UAE and Kuwait, respectively. The participants reported average intakes over the past year. On average the participants reported eating 3.4 servings/d of fruits and 3.1 servings/d of vegetables in UAE versus 2.8 servings/d of fruits and 3.2 servings/d of vegetables in Kuwait. Participants reported eating cereals 4.8 times/d in UAE and 5.3 times/d in Kuwait. The mean intake of dairy products was 2.2/d in UAE and 3.4 among Kuwaiti. Conclusion We have developed SFFQs to measure diet in UAE and Kuwait that will serve the needs of public health researchers and clinicians and are currently validating those instruments.

Background Airborne allergens vary from one climatic region to another. Therefore, it is important to analyze the environment of the region to select the most prevalent allergens for the diagnosis and treatment of allergic patients. Objective To evaluate the prevalence of positive skin tests to pollen and fungal allergens collected from local indigenous plants or isolated molds, as well as other outdoor and indoor allergens in allergic patients in 6 different geographical areas in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the UnitedArabEmirates, and Sudan. Materials and methods Four hundred ninety-two consecutive patients evaluated at different Allergy Clinics (276 women and 256 men; mean age, 30 years) participated in this study. The selection of indigenous allergens was based on research findings in different areas from Riyadh and adjoining areas. Indigenous raw material for pollen grains was collected from the desert near the capital city of Riyadh, KSA. The following plants were included: Chenopodium murale, Salsola imbricata, Rumex vesicarius, Ricinus communis, Artiplex nummularia, Amaranthus viridis, Artemisia monosperma, Plantago boissieri, and Prosopis juliflora. Indigenous molds were isolated from air sampling in Riyadh and grown to obtain the raw material. These included the following: Ulocladium spp., Penicillium spp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium spp., and Alternaria spp. The raw material was processed under Good Manufacturing Practices for skin testing. Other commercially available outdoor (grass and tree pollens) and indoor (mites, cockroach, and cat dander) allergens were also tested. Results The highest sensitization to indigenous pollens was detected to C. murale (32%) in Khartoum (Sudan) and S. imbricata (30%) and P. juliflora (24%) in the Riyadh region. The highest sensitization to molds was detected in Khartoum, especially to Cladosporium spp. (42%), Aspergillus (40%), and Alternaria spp. (38%). Sensitization to mites was also very prevalent

This study is aimed at determining the presence of Escherichia coli and characterizing the availability of Shiga toxin gene in beef meat samples imported from South Africa. Meat samples (n=47) were randomly collected from meat sections at different supermarkets in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) from the beginning of August 2016 till the end of March 2017. Samples were diluted and inoculated on MacConkey agar and Eosin methylene blue agar (EMB), and the colony forming units (CFU) were recorded. API 20E identification kit was used for biochemical identification of E. coli. Detection of the 16S rRNA and shiga toxin genes by PCR amplification was done. Our results revealed that 14 (29.7%) out of the total 47 samples were positive for E. coli. The bacterial burden of E. coli as determined by colony growth showed variable level of contamination. From the PCR amplification, the shiga toxin gene carried by the E. coli is the Stx2 gene. This study revealed moderately high contamination levels of E. coli in beef samples imported from South Africa and marketed in UAE which mostly carries the shiga toxin gene Stx2.

An outward-oriented development strategy and prudent financial policies resulted in an impressive economic growth and led to a large accumulation of external financial assets. The major Emirates intend to leverage the favorable economic environment to carry out reforms that will encourage more private sector participation. Owing to the complexities of interlinkages between financial and real sectors, broad and proper information is needed to allow comprehensive economic development. As a resu...

Introduction The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC or 'Arabian Gulf'), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UnitedArabEmirates, is a political organization sharing a common history and culture. All GCC nations have made substantial investments in telecommunications and electronic health infrastructure since 2000. Methods We conducted a literature search in English and Arabic on peer-reviewed e-health research up to December 2014 originating in the GCC. The objective was to retrieve all research on e-health in the GCC and to categorize and analyse it qualitatively to reveal the current state of e-health research and development in the region. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed articles, books, book chapters, conference papers and graduate theses written on e-health in the GCC. Blogs, health websites and non-peer-reviewed literature were excluded. Results Three hundred and six articles were retrieved, categorized and analysed qualitatively to reveal the state of e-health research in the GCC. Both country-specific and GCC-wide major themes were identified using NVivo 10.0 qualitative software and summarized. The most common type of study was an overview (35.0%), with common study designs of case studies (26.8%) and descriptive articles (46.4%). Significant themes were: prospective national benefits from e-health, implementation and satisfaction with electronic health records, online technologies in medical education, innovative systems (case studies), and information security and personal health information. Discussion This is the first comprehensive analytical literature review of e-health in the GCC. Important research gaps were identified: few cost-benefit analyses, controlled interventional studies, or research targeting gender and religious issues were retrieved.

Full Text Available Accurate information about the prevalence and types of tobacco use is essential to deliver effective public health policy. We aimed to study the prevalence and modes of tobacco consumption in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE, particularly focusing on the use of Midwakh (Arabic traditional pipe.We studied 170,430 UAE nationals aged ≥ 18 years (44% males and 56% females in the Weqaya population-based screening program in Abu Dhabi residents during the period April 2008-June 2010. Self-reported smoking status, type, quantity and duration of tobacco smoked were recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study findings; prevalence rates used the screened sample as the denominator.The prevalence of smoking overall was 24.3% in males and 0.8% in females and highest in males aged 20-39. Mean age (SD of smokers was 32.8 (11.1 years, 32.7 (11.1 in males and 35.7 (12.1 in females. Cigarette smoking was the commonest form of tobacco use (77.4% of smokers, followed by Midwakh (15.0%, shisha (waterpipe (6.8%, and cigar (0.66%. The mean durations of smoking for cigarettes, Midwakh, shisha and cigars were 11.4, 9.3, 7.6 and 11.0 years, respectively.Smoking is most common among younger UAE national men. The use of Midwakh and the relatively young age of onset of Midwakh smokers is of particular concern as is the possibility of the habit spreading to other countries. Comprehensive tobacco control laws targeting the young and the use of Midwakh are needed.

Full Text Available Kahf Kharrat Najem Cave is a small cave in UnitedArabEmirates (UAE that hosts a bat colony which is the source of guano deposits and peculiar centimeter-long yellowish stalactites. The mineralogy and geochemistry of these deposits were analyzed using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic microanalysis (EDX, scanning electron microscope (SEM, and stable isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N. Urea CO(NH22 was found to be the main compound of these stalactites, while allantoin C4H6N4O3 was found to be an accessory urea byproduct. This paper is the first to mention allantoin in a cave environment. We also identified rare sulfate minerals (aphthitalite, alunite and phosphates that probably correspond to the archerite-biphosphammite series. The occurrence of these rare bat-related minerals is due to the extremely dry conditions in the cave, which accounts for the extraordinary preservation of the guano deposits and allows for the crystallization of these very soluble minerals.

The oil crisis of the 1970s has increased the concern about the continuity of oil imports flow to major oil-importing developed countries. Numerous policy measures including electricity demand-side management (DSM) programs have been adopted in such countries. These measures aim at reducing the growing need for electricity power that increases the dependency on imported foreign oil and damages the environment. On the other hand, the perception that energy can be obtained at very low cost in oil-rich countries led to less attention being paid to the potential of DSM policies in these countries. This paper discusses such potential using the case of the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). Since air conditioning is a major source of electric energy consumption, the relationship between climate conditions and electric energy consumption is considered. An electricity demand model is constructed using time series techniques. The fitted model seems to represent these relationships rather well. Forecasts for electricity consumption using the estimated model indicate that a small reduction in cooling degrees requirement might induce a significant reduction in electric energy demand. Hence, a DSM program is proposed with policy actions to include, among others, measures to reduce cooling degrees requirement

Full Text Available This study mainly discusses how the immature behaviour of a part of the society, resulting in vandalism, affects the building aesthetics and design features in the districts of the city of Sharjah, in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE. Initially explaining the term “vandalism” in itself, this study goes on to debate on the reasons behind vandalism, its different types, and its effects on the environment. Throughout the discussion, studies of the relationship between vandalism and reflectivity are examined, considering how the characteristics and features of the buildings affect vandalism. Three methodology tools were used: a questionnaire, an Integrated Environmental Solution Virtual Environment (IESVE software program, and illuminance measurements. Simulation scenarios of the current situation of Abu Shagara were performed, which took into account several options with respect to wall material, flooring material, and types of lighting. All in all, ten simulation cases were conducted and compared, which allowed the identification of the best simulation scenario. The type of lighting had a greater impact on the simulation scenario results than the type of wall and flooring materials. The type of lighting varied as per its polar grid and light distribution.

We collected movement data for eight rehabilitated and satellite-tagged green sea turtles Chelonia mydas released off the UnitedArabEmirates between 2005 and 2013. Rehabilitation periods ranged from 96 to 1353 days (mean = 437 ± 399 days). Seven of the eight tagged turtles survived after release; one turtle was killed by what is thought to be a post-release spear gun wound. The majority of turtles (63%) used shallow-water core habitats and established home ranges between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the same area in which they had originally washed ashore prior to rescue. Four turtles made movements across international boundaries, highlighting that regional cooperation is necessary for the management of the species. One turtle swam from Fujairah to the Andaman Sea, a total distance of 8283 km, which is the longest published track of a green turtle. This study demonstrates that sea turtles can be successfully reintroduced into the wild after sustaining serious injury and undergoing prolonged periods of intense rehabilitation.

Full Text Available In the U.A.E. (UnitedArabEmirates, interior design education is often misunderstood as interior decoration, wherein the former is a more comprehensive design approach to spaces formed by structural boundaries and curation of human interaction. The conducted case study addressed a small number of students enrolled in Interior Design Studio I at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi campus. In addition to traditional teaching methods compromised of individual desk critique sessions, group pin-ups and presentations, three innovative methods were implemented as a means of guiding students through the process: direct sequential instruction executed within an assigned time frame, reflection on the surfaced result and use of flat photography or panoramas as means of space communication. Throughout the three implemented stages of the project, and through utilizing the above-described generative methodology, students achieved complex representation and revealed higher spatial order related to human occupation and space inhabitation. This methodology allowed students to channel their work through complex sets of interconnected information and derived an outcome from an accumulative multi-layered resolution. The article presents the process and analyses the achieved outcomes.

Full Text Available Salt flats (sabkha are a recognized habitat for microbial life in desert environments and as analogs of habitats for possible life on Mars. Here we report on the physical setting and microbiology of interdune sabkhas among the large dunes in the Rub' al Khali (the Empty Quarter in Liwa Oasis, UnitedArabEmirates. The salt flats, composed of gypsum and halite, are moistened by relatively fresh ground water. The result is a salinity gradient that is inverted compared to most salt flat communities with the hypersaline layer at the top and freshwater layers below. We describe and characterize a rich photosynthetically-based microbial ecosystem that is protected from the arid outside environment by a translucent salt crust. Gases collected from sediments under shallow ponds in the sabkha contain methane in concentrations as high as 3400 ppm. The salt crust could preserve biomarkers and other evidence for life in the salt after it dries out. Chloride-filled depressions have been identified on Mars and although surface flow of water is unlikely on Mars today, ground water is possible. Such a near surface system with modern groundwater flowing under ancient salt deposits could be present on Mars and could be accessed by surface rovers.

The aim of this study was to give some insights into the prevalence, serovars, phage types, and antibiotic resistances of Salmonella from animal origin in the UnitedArabEmirates. Data on diagnostic samples from animals (n = 20,871) examined for Salmonella between 1996 and 2009 were extracted from the databases of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai and from typed strains (n = 1052) from the Robert Koch Institute, Wernigerode Branch in Germany and analyzed for general and animal-specific trends. Salmonella was isolated from 1,928 (9 %) of the 20,871 samples examined. Among the 1,052 typed strains, most were from camels (n = 232), falcons (n = 166), bustards (n = 101), antelopes (n = 66), and horses (n = 63). The predominant serovars were Salmonella Typhimurium (25 %), Salmonella Kentucky (8 %), followed by Salmonella Frintrop (7 %), and Salmonella Hindmarsh (5 %). When analyzed by animal species, the most frequent serovars in camels were Salmonella Frintrop (28 %) and Salmonella Hindmarsh (21 %), in falcons Salmonella Typhimurium (32 %), in bustards Salmonella Kentucky (19 %), in antelopes Salmonella Typhimurium (9 %), and in horses Salmonella Typhimurium (17 %) and S. Kentucky (16 %). Resistance of all typed Salmonella strains (n = 1052) was most often seen to tetracycline (23 %), streptomycin (22 %), nalidixic acid (18 %), and ampicillin (15 %). These data show trends in the epidemiology of Salmonella in different animal species which can be used as a base for future prevention, control, and therapy strategies.

The objective of this research was to investigate the prevalence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection primarily in dromedary camel farms and the relationship of those infections with infections in humans in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Nasal swabs from 1113 dromedary camels (39 farms) and 34 sheep (1 farm) and sputum samples from 2 MERS-CoV-infected camel farm owners and 1 MERS-CoV-infected sheep farm owner were collected. Samples from camels and humans underwent real-time reverse-transcription quantitative PCR screening to detect MERS-CoV. In addition, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of partially characterized MERS-CoV genome fragments obtained from camels were performed. Among the 40 farms, 6 camel farms were positive for MERS-CoV; the virus was not detected in the single sheep farm. The maximum duration of viral shedding from infected camels was 2 weeks after the first positive test result as detected in nasal swabs and in rectal swabs obtained from infected calves. Three partial camel sequences characterized in this study (open reading frames 1a and 1ab, Spike1, Spike2, and ORF4b) together with the corresponding regions of previously reported MERS-CoV sequence obtained from one farm owner were clustering together within the larger MERS-CoV sequences cluster containing human and camel isolates reported for the Arabian Peninsula. Data provided further evidence of the zoonotic potential of MERS-CoV infection and strongly suggested that camels may have a role in the transmission of the virus to humans.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is a global problem with no boundaries, which also afflicts individuals from countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Data from this region is limited. In an effort to develop targeted prevention and intervention initiatives in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), it was necessary to identify the nature of substance use by describing the characteristics of those using different substances. Consequently, this study in the UAE was conceived to describe the pattern of SUD in a first-ever cohort that was systematically recruited from the country's National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC) in Abu Dhabi. Two hundred and fifty male patients were recruited from the NRC. Information on substance use was collected using a questionnaire that was completed at an interview with patients who consented to participate. The questionnaire was based on information that the study was designed to capture. It was reviewed by members of institutional ethics committees and approved prior to use. Two hundred and fifty male subjects from the Emirates Family Registry (EFR) were used as a comparison group. In the cohort studied, SUD correlated with smoking and marital status. Poly-substance users formed the majority of the cohort (84.4 %) with various combinations of substances identified across different age groups. Opioid and alcohol were the most common substances used. The use of pharmaceutical opioids, primarily Tramadol (67.2 % of opioid users), was higher among the youngest age group studied (<30 years old), while older opioid users (≥30 years old) commonly used illicit opioids (Heroin). The use of prescribed medication for non-medical use also included Pregabalin (mean of 8.3 capsules ± 0.5 per day), Procyclidin (6.1 tablets + 0.6 per day) and Carisoprodol (4.2 tablets ± 0.4 per day) and was again highest in the age group below 30 years. This 2015 study highlights the importance of examining the pattern of poly-substance use in a population in order

Knowledge is limited on healthy lifestyle behaviors and their associations with glycemic and blood pressure control among patients with diabetes and hypertension in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). To examine healthy lifestyle behaviors and their associations with glycemic and blood pressure control among patients with hypertension and diabetes, and improvement after the implementation of an intervention in a Chronic Disease Program. All patients with diabetes or hypertension attending seven primary health care centers in Al Ain, UAE during a designated three-week period in July and August 2009. Nurses conducted an audit of patients' adherence to health lifestyle behaviors related to meal planning, smoking, exercise, blood glucose and blood pressure monitoring at home, and foot and eye exams in the Chronic Disease Program clinics after a self-management intervention. A perceived knowledge score and discussion scores (based on the frequency the patients discuss diabetes and hypertension management issues with their providers) were calculated. Data were analyzed using linear regression and odds ratios. Patients reported acceptable rates of adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors, including a low smoking rate (6% in males), following a meal plan and exercising (88.6% and 78.7%, respectively). Among patients with diabetes, 59% tested their blood glucose levels at least once a week compared to only 15.3% of those with hypertension monitoring their blood pressure levels at home. Only 33% of the participants were following the current physical activity recommendations. Healthy lifestyle behaviors fell into the following clusters: meal planning with exercise (odds ratio (OR): 8.9 [3.3-23.7]), meal planning with foot exams (OR: 10.6 [3.4-32.9]) and exercising and foot exams (OR: 5.2 [1.9-14.2]). This practice-based audit provides an essential assessment for future interventions to improve adherence to healthy life style behaviors among patients with diabetes and

Full Text Available The main purpose of this study is to explore the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR on employees working in two UnitedArabEmirates (UAE-based companies. “Hilti Emirates” and “EROS Group” are the two companies that engage in a number of CSR applications which were focused on India in 2015. The impact of CSR on the companies is the key focus in this study by gauging employees’ and managers’ perceptions. Primary data were collected by means of a prepared questionnaire that concentrated on employee and managerial behavior and attitudes, while secondary data were collected from theoretical articles and published company reports. Data were analyzed by means of statistical analysis using SPSS software. Methods like factor analysis, descriptive analysis and ANOVA in SPSS software are helpful in assessing the effect of CSR on employees, and hence companies, in the UAE. The main findings of the study are that employees can develop a behavioral change depending on the nature of CSR practices within the company. In turn, CSR polices are sustainable in relation to company profit which may vary from one company to another and one financial year to another. Therefore, this study concludes that employee behavior regarding CSR policies has notable and positive implications, relevant to the company as well as to the employees and management. The two leading UAE companies demonstrate a confluent pattern of CSR practices and effects that may also relate to employee behavior in other economies, although the researchers encourage more investigations to corroborate that view.

A mesoscale network of 14 AERONET Sun photometers was established in the UAE and adjacent Arabian Gulf from August through September 2004 as a component of the UnitedArabEmirates Unified Aerosol Experiment (UAE2). These measurements allowed for spatial, temporal and spectral characterization of the complex aerosol mixtures present in this environment where coarse mode desert dust aerosols often mix with fine mode pollution aerosols largely produced by the petroleum industry. Aerosol loading was relatively high with 2-month averages of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm (τa500) ranging from 0.40 to 0.53. A higher fine mode fraction of AOD was observed over Arabian Gulf island sites with Angstrom exponent at 440-870 nm (α440-870) of 0.77 as compared to an average of 0.64 over coastal sites and 0.50-0.57 at inland desert sites. During pollution events with α440-870 > 1 the retrieved fine mode radius was larger over an island site than a desert site probably because of hygroscopic growth over the humid marine environment. For these same pollution cases, single scattering albedo (ωo) at all wavelengths was ˜0.03 higher (less absorption) over the marine environment than over the desert, also consistent with aerosol humidification growth. At an inland desert location, the ωo at 440 nm remained relatively constant as Angstrom exponent varied since the fine mode pollution and coarse mode dust were both strong absorbers at short wavelengths. However, at longer wavelengths (675-1020 nm) the dust was much less absorbing than the pollution resulting in dynamic ωo as a function of α440-870.

This petrographic, stable isotopic and fluid inclusion microthermometric study of the Upper Jurassic limestones of an onshore field, Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) compares diagenesis in flanks and crest of the anticline. The results revealed that the diagenetic and related reservoir quality evolution occurred during three phases, including: (i) eogenesis to mesogenesis 1, during which reservoir quality across the field was either deteriorated or preserved by calcite cementation presumably derived from marine or evolved marine pore waters. Improvement of reservoir quality was due to the formation of micropores by micritization of allochems and creation of moldic/intragranular pores by dissolution of peloids and skeletal fragments. (ii) Obduction of Oman ophiolites and formation of the anticline of the studied field was accompanied by cementation by saddle dolomite and blocky calcite. High homogenization temperatures (125-175 °C) and high salinity (19-26 wt% NaCl eq) of the fluid inclusions, negative δ18OVPDB values (-7.7 to -2.9‰), saddle shape of dolomite, and the presence of exotic cements (i.e. fluorite and sphalerite) suggest that these carbonates were formed by flux of hot basinal brines, probably related to this tectonic compression event. (iii) Mesogenesis 2 during subsidence subsequent to the obduction event, which resulted in extensive stylolitization and cementation by calcite. This calcite cement occluded most of the remaining moldic and inter-/intragranular pores of the flank limestones (water zone) whereas porosity was preserved in the crest. This study contributes to: (1) our understanding of differences in the impact of diagenesis on reservoir quality evolution in flanks and crests of anticlines, i.e. impact of hydrocarbon emplacement on diagenesis, and (2) relating various diagenetic processes to burial history and tectonic events of foreland basins in the Arabian Gulf area and elsewhere.

We report an outbreak of Serratia marcescens infection in a special-care baby unit (SCBU) of a university-affiliated community hospital in the UnitedArabEmirates. The outbreak involved 36 infants and lasted for 20 weeks. Seven of the colonized infants developed invasive illnesses in the form of bacteraemia (four cases), bacteraemic meningitis (two) and clinical sepsis (one). Three other term infants had purulent conjunctivitis. There were five deaths with an overall mortality of 14%. S. marcescens was cultured from airflow samples from the air conditioning (AC) which was the reservoir of infection in this outbreak. Elimination of the nosocomial source and outbreak containment were eventually achieved by specialized robotic cleaning of the entire AC duct system of the SCBU. Strict adherence to the infection control policies was reinforced to prevent transmission of cross-infection. Copyright 2002 The Hospital Infection Society

The prevalence of diabetes has risen rapidly in the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf Region. However, some prevalence estimates have not fully accounted for large migrant worker populations and have focused on minority indigenous populations. The objectives of the UAE National Diabetes and Lifestyle Study are to: (i) define the prevalence of, and risk factors for, T2DM; (ii) describe the distribution and determinants of T2DM risk factors; (iii) study health knowledge, attitudes, and (iv) identify gene-environment interactions; and (v) develop baseline data for evaluation of future intervention programs. Given the high burden of diabetes in the region and the absence of accurate data on non-UAE nationals in the UAE, a representative sample of the non-UAE nationals was essential. We used an innovative methodology in which non-UAE nationals were sampled when attending the mandatory biannual health check that is required for visa renewal. Such an approach could also be used in other countries in the region. Complete data were available for 2719 eligible non-UAE nationals (25.9% Arabs, 70.7% Asian non-Arabs, 1.1% African non-Arabs, and 2.3% Westerners). Most were men

This study compared the effects of two instructional strategies, small heterogeneous cooperative learning experience versus lecture and discussion, on students' attitudes toward mathematics. 54 boys and 57 girls in Grade 8 of four middle-school mathematics classes participated. Two classes (57 students) were taught using a cooperative learning method and the other two classes (54 students) were taught using traditional lecture and discussion. Differences between attitudes of boys and girls were also investigated and discussed in the light of Arabic culture. The results suggested that cooperative learning might be a valuable method with which to teach mathematics concepts to boys.

Liwa area is located in the Western Region of the Abu Dhabi Emirate in UAE. Environmental isotopes namely 2 H , 1 8O and 3 H were used to study the Quaternary aquifer in the aforementioned area. The analyses indicate that groundwater samples obtained from the study area have significant variation of isotopic content. The range of δ2 H is from -17 to 16.5, while the δ1 8O is ranging from +1.07 to +6.05. This large variation in both oxygen and hydrogen contents may be related to different origin of groundwater. δ2 H - δ1 8O relationship points to potential evaporation of recharged water prior to infiltration as observed from the slope of 4 and y-intercept of about 9. The reported results demonstrate that investigated aquifer is recharged from high elevation source which is Northern Oman Mountains, as seen from the distribution of the samples relative to the LMWL. Groundwater samples have been classified based on their depth to shallow-medium aquifer and deep aquifer. Samples from deeper aquifer have depleted values of isotopes and this indicates that deep groundwater is ancient and originated from rains of different climatic regime.

Full Text Available Introduction. In this cross-sectional study, the level of knowledge and attitude of elementary school teachers regarding traumatic dental injuries (TDI were assessed. Materials and Methods. A questionnaire was distributed to 330 elementary school teachers in 30 randomly selected schools in the Emirates of Sharjah and Dubai. The questionnaire collected information on participants’ demographic characteristics, first aid training, and attitude about emergency management of TDI. Results. 292 teachers (88% completed the questionnaires; of these, 95% were females, and 50% of the participants had first aid training. Knowledge about tooth avulsion was inadequate, and first aid training was not associated with correct responses to management of avulsed teeth (p>0.05. A significantly higher percentage of younger teachers (p<0.05 expressed the need for future education on TDI management. A significantly higher percentage of participants who had an educational position (95% indicated that they did not have enough knowledge regarding TDI compared to physical education teachers (79% and administrators (87% (p<0.05. Conclusions. Elementary school teachers in the UAE have a low level of knowledge regarding the management of dental trauma. Educational programs that address TDI are needed and could improve the elementary school teachers’ level of knowledge in emergency management of TDI.

The US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Drilling Company of Abu Dhabi, is conducting a 4-year study of the fresh and slightly saline groundwater resources of the eastern Abu Dhabi Emirate. Most of this water occurs in a shallow aquifer, generally less than 150 m deep, in the Al Ain area. A critical part of the Al Ain area coincides with a former petroleum concession area where about 2780 km of vibroseis data were collected along 94 seismic lines during 1981-1983. Field methods, acquistion parameters, and section processing were originally designed to enhance reflections expected at depths ranging from 5000 to 6000 m, and subsurface features directly associated with the shallow aquifer system were deleted from the original seismic sections. The original field tapes from the vibroseis survey were reprocessed in an attempt to extract shallow subsurface information (depths less than 550 m) for investigating the shallow aquifer. A unique sequence of reproccessing parameters was established after reviewing the results from many experimental tests. Many enhancements to the resolution of shallow seismic reflections resulted from: (1) application of a 20-Hz, low-cut filter; (2) recomputation of static corrections to a datum nearer the land surface; (3) intensive velocity analyses; and (4) near-trace muting analyses. The number, resolution, and lateral continuity of shallow reflections were greatly enhanced on the reprocessed sections, as was the delineation of shallow, major faults. Reflections on a synthetic seismogram, created from a borehole drilled to a depth of 786 m on seismic line IQS-11, matcheddprecisely with shallow reflections on the reprocessed section. The 33 reprocessed sections were instrumental in preparing a map showing the major structural features that affect the shallow aquifer system. Analysis of the map provides a better understanding of the effect of these shallow features on the regional occurrence, movement, and quality of

...-810] Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe From India, the Sultanate of Oman, the UnitedArab..., the Sultanate of Oman (``Oman''), The UnitedArabEmirates (``the UAE''), and the Socialist Republic... Oman, the UnitedArabEmirates, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Initiation of Countervailing...

The use of Dietary Supplements (DS) has increased substantially in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) in recent years, despite the fact that the efficacy and safety of these supplements are not proven yet. In addition, the practices of supplement users in the UAE remain undocumented. To determine the usage of DS in health sciences and non-health sciences students; and to determine their knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding these supplements. A descriptive, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among university students. Based on the Raosoft online calculator, it was anticipated that the sample of 383 students would enable us to achieve the study objectives. Students were recruited from Ajman University of Science and Technology and identified by the academic staff through students' records. All students who were registered at Ajman University of Science and Technology - including medical (i.e. dental, pharmacy and health sciences) and non-medical colleges (i.e. engineering, business administration, law, information technology, mass communications and humanities) - were invited to participate, after obtaining the approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), (during the period of January-February 2015). This study used quantitative method approach. Therefore, data were analysed quantitatively using SPSS version 22.0. More than one-third of participants (39%) were found to consume DS. The most common reasons for consuming supplements were to maintain good health (58,21%) and ensure adequate nutrition (43,15%). Almost two-thirds of participants (65%) perceived that the best way to obtain nutrients is through food and DS together (49%), or DS alone (16%). Therefore, there was a relatively high amount of DS intake among participants in this study. With regard to medical and non-medical students' use of DS, there were no significant differences in the use (p=0.139). However, other findings suggest that there are significant

Dieback caused by the fungus Lasiodiplodia theobromae is an important disease on mango plantations in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). In this study, 53 actinobacterial isolates were obtained from mango rhizosphere soil in the UAE, of which 35 (66%) were classified as streptomycetes (SA) and 18 (34%) as non-streptomycetes (NSA). Among these isolates, 19 (12 SA and 7 NSA) showed antagonistic activities against L. theobromae associated with either the production of diffusible antifungal metabolites, extracellular cell-wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs), or both. Using a “novel” mango fruit bioassay, all isolates were screened in vivo for their abilities to reduce lesion severity on fruits inoculated with L. theobromae. Three isolates, two belonging to Streptomyces and one to Micromonospora spp., showed the strongest inhibitory effect against this pathogen in vitro and were therefore selected for tests on mango seedlings. Our results revealed that the antifungal action of S. samsunensis UAE1 was related to antibiosis, and the production of CWDEs (i.e., chitinase) and siderophores; whilst S. cavourensis UAE1 and M. tulbaghiae UAE1 were considered to be associated with antibiotic- and CWDE-production, respectively. Pre-inoculation in greenhouse experiments with the most promising actinobacterial isolates resulted in very high levels of disease protection in mango seedlings subsequently inoculated with the pathogen. This was evident by the dramatic reduction in the estimated disease severity indices of the mango dieback of individual biocontrol agent (BCA) applications compared with the pathogen alone, confirming their potential in the management of mango dieback disease. L. theobromae-infected mango seedlings treated with S. samsunensis showed significantly reduced number of defoliated leaves and conidia counts of L. theobromae by 2- and 4-fold, respectively, in comparison to the other two BCA applications. This indicates that the synergistic antifungal effects of S

Full text: It is a pleasure for me to open this IAEA conference on Human Resource Development for Introducing and Expanding Nuclear Power Programmes. I am very grateful to the Government of the UnitedArabEmirates for hosting this important event. As you know, the world is witnessing a resurgence of interest in nuclear power. The IAEA has projects on introducing nuclear power with no fewer than 58 of our Member States. We expect between 10 and 25 new countries to bring their first nuclear power plants on line by 2030. These are momentous changes. However, some countries are concerned about a possible shortage of skilled professionals in the nuclear field in the coming decades. The generation of professionals who built and led the nuclear power industry for much of the past 50 years is approaching retirement and in some countries not enough students are coming up through the educational system to take their place. Naturally, we, at the IAEA, want to do all we can to help Member States address this issue. That is why we have organized this conference. The situation is different in each country. For countries with expanding nuclear power programmes, the challenge is to scale up their existing education and training in order to have the required qualified workforce on time. Countries planning to supply nuclear technology to others must not only meet their national human resource needs, but also be able to transfer education and training capacity together with the technology they provide. Finally, countries embarking on nuclear power cannot become too dependent on their technology supplier and need to develop their own home grown expertise and skills base. The IAEA would be happy to help interested States to formulate country specific policies on human resource development, education, training and knowledge management in support of nuclear power programmes. We could also help countries make better use of training facilities, research reactors and other educational

n-Alkanes, highly branched isoprenoids, monomethylalkanes (MMAs), dimethylalkanes (DMAs), and trimethylalkanes (TMAs) are the most abundant components in the hydrocarbon fractions of extracts of four modern and two Holocene cyanobacterial mats (1500 and 5110 ± 170 y ) collected in Abu Dhabi (United

This paper discusses the sedimentary model, sequence framework and geometry quantification of sedimentary bodies in an Upper Cretaceous carbonate platform, abounding in oil reservoirs. The outcrops are located along the western margin of the northern Oman Mountains in the border region of the UnitedArabEmirates and the Sultanate of Oman. The Maastrichtian Simsima Formation outcrops on several N-S-trending jebels, situated between the localities of Al Dhaid and Al Ain. Jebel Rawdah was studied in detail, whereas Jebel Faiyah is documented as another reference section for correlation purposes. A sedimentary reconstruction of the latest Campanian - Late Maastrichtian interval displays a gradual change from tidal flat and fore-shore to outer platform settings. This evolution shows the flooding of the study area after Late Campanian times. Two third-order sequences were identified on the Maastrichtian intra-platform ramps. Both of them can be subdivided into a complex arrangement of 4. and 5. order sequences. Third-order sequences exhibit composite features and contain aggradational/retro-gradational and pro-gradational trends. A direct relationship was identified between the sequence framework and the palaeo-ecological distribution of reef builder and free organisms. The former developed essentially in retro-gradational trends whereas the benthic foraminifera Loftusia commonly appears in platform flooding intervals, and orbitoids mainly occur within pro-gradational trends. Widespread sedimentary tectonic activity is documented in the palaeo-geographic reconstruction of the Simsima Formation. Several palaeo-highs and grabens, related to the general foreland basin context of the UAE platform, are recognised in the Jebel Rawdah. Finally, the sequence framework of the Simsima Formation in the Jebel Falyah is similar to that of the Jebel Rawdah and makes it possible to propose an accurate sequence framework correlation. (authors)

FDI is important in building a sustainable and diversified knowledge-based UAE economy. The stock of FDI grew at an average annual growth rate of 45.3 percent over the past decade reaching US$ 95 billion or nearly 27 percent of GDP in 2012. FDI flows have not recovered from the global financial crises. Most FDI stock is concentrated in finance, construction, and real estate. Recent greenfield FDI is concentrated in construction, while more than half of top M&A deals took place in finance, tra...

Full Text Available Background The Hajar Mountains of Oman and the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE is the highest mountain range in Eastern Arabia. As a result of their old geological origin, geographical isolation, complex topography and local climate, these mountains provide an important refuge for endemic and relict species of plants and animals with strong Indo-Iranian affinities. Among vertebrates, the rock climbing nocturnal geckos of the genus Asaccus represent the genus with the highest number of endemic species in the Hajar Mountains. Recent taxonomic studies on the Zagros populations of Asaccus have shown that this genus is much richer than it was previously thought and preliminary morphological and molecular data suggest that its diversity in Arabia may also be underestimated. Methods A total of 83 specimens originally classified as Asaccus caudivolvulus (including specimens of the two new species described herein, six other Asaccus species from the Hajar and the Zagros Mountains and two representatives of the genus Haemodracon were sequenced for up to 2,311 base pairs including the mitochondrial 12S and cytb and the nuclear c-mos, MC1R and ACM4 genes. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred using both Bayesian and maximum-likelihood approaches and the former method was also used to calibrate the phylogenetic tree. Haplotype networks and phylogenetic trees were inferred from the phased nuclear genes only. Sixty-one alcohol-preserved adult specimens originally classified as Asaccus caudivolvulus from the northern Hajar Mountains were examined for 13 morphometric and the five meristic variables using multivariate methods and were also used to diagnose and describe the two new species. Results The results of the molecular and morphological analyses indicate that the species originally classified as Asaccus caudivolvulus is, in fact, an assemblage of three different species that started diversifying during the Mid-Miocene. The molecular phylogenies consistently

This paper presents the results of three dimensional sequence stratigraphic forward modelling of the Aptian age Shu'aiba Formation from Abu Dhabi, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The Shu'aiba Formation lies within the uppermost part of the Lower Cretaceous Thamama Group and forms one of the most prolific hydrocarbon reservoir intervals of the Middle East with production dating back to the 1960's. The Shu'aiba Formation developed as a series of laterally-extensive shallow-water carbonate platforms in an epeiric sea that extended over the northern margin of the African-Arabian Plate. This shallow sea was bounded by the Arabian Shield to the west and the passive margin with the Neo-Tethys Ocean towards the north and east (Droste, 2010). The exposed Arabian Shield acted as a source of siliciclastic sediments to westernmost regions, however, more offshore areas were dominated by shallow-water carbonate deposition. Carbonate production was variously dominated by Lithocodium-Baccinella, orbitolinid foraminifera and rudist bivalves depending on local conditions. While there have been numerous studies of this important stratigraphic interval (for examples see van Buchem et al., 2010), there has been little attempt to simulate the sequence stratigraphic development of the formation. During the present study modelling was undertaken utilising the CARBONATE-3D stratigraphic forward modelling software (Warrlich et al., 2008; Warrlich et al., 2002)) thus allowing for the control of a diverse range of internal and external parameters on carbonate sequence development. This study focuses on platform development in the onshore Bu Hasa Field - the first giant oilfield to produce from the Shu'aiba Formation in Abu Dhabi. The carbonates of the Bu Hasa field were deposited on the southwest slope of the intra-shelf Bab Basin, siliciclastic content is minor. Initially these carbonates were algal dominated with rudist mounds becoming increasingly important over time (Alsharhan, 1987

This paper aims to explore and study the current usage trends of Web2.0 namely Facebook, RSS, Blogs and Twitter among selected higher education institutions’ libraries in 6 gulf countries namely: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, UnitedArabEmirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait. Websites of the selected libraries would be compared on the extent of the usage of these tools, the participation level and their purpose. The author would also share his opinion and suggestions on improving the current trends pertaining to the area of Web2.0 and libraries. The impact and importance of Web2.0 on libraries cannot be disputed. Since gaining popularity in mid-2000, libraries around the globe have jumped onto the Web2.0 bandwagon. Among the common examples of Web2.0 used by libraries today are namely: social networking sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomies and video sharing sites. Libraries are using Web2.0 to (among others): • market their services / resources to their community, • announce latest library news, • provide their online guides / notes for their resources among others. Though such tools have been implemented by most libraries around the world, some of the challenges faced by libraries are: •participation level – casting the net to a wider audience •selection of web2.0 tools •effectiveness of present web2.0 tools used by the libraries

Full Text Available Landfill sites receive 92% of total annual solid waste produced by municipalities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. In this study, candidate sites for an appropriate landfill location for the Abu Dhabi municipal area are determined by integrating geographic information systems (GIS and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE analysis. To identify appropriate landfill sites, eight input map layers including proximity to urban areas, proximity to wells and water table depth, geology and topography, proximity to touristic and archeological sites, distance from roads network, distance from drainage networks, and land slope are used in constraint mapping. A final map was generated which identified potential areas showing suitability for the location of the landfill site. Results revealed that 30% of the study area was identified as highly suitable, 25% as suitable, and 45% as unsuitable. The selection of the final landfill site, however, requires further field research.

This study evaluates the cost of achieving glycemic control with three sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin, in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from the payer perspective in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). A systematic literature review identified randomized controlled trials of antihyperglycemic agents as add-on to metformin in patients with T2DM of 26 ± 4 weeks in duration, published by 10 September 2014. A Bayesian network-meta analysis (NMA) compared HbA1c changes with canagliflozin 100 and 300 mg versus dapagliflozin 10 mg and empagliflozin 10 and 25 mg. The cost associated with a 1% placebo-adjusted HbA1c reduction with each SGLT2 inhibitor as add-on to metformin was calculated based on NMA results and UAE drug costs. In the NMA, canagliflozin 100 and 300 mg were associated with HbA1c reductions (-0.67% and -0.79%) compared with dapagliflozin 10 mg (-0.41%) and empagliflozin 10 and 25 mg (-0.57% and -0.64%). Probabilities of canagliflozin 100 mg performing better were 79%, 60%, and 53% versus dapagliflozin 10 mg and empagliflozin 10 and 25 mg, respectively; probabilities for canagliflozin 300 mg performing better were 88%, 72%, and 65%, respectively. The cost per 1%-point reduction in HbA1c was projected to be lower with canagliflozin 100 and 300 mg ($448 and $422) compared with dapagliflozin 10 mg ($785) and empagliflozin 10 and 25 mg ($527 and $563). Canagliflozin may provide a greater glycemic response at a lower effective cost than dapagliflozin or empagliflozin for patients with T2DM inadequately controlled with metformin from the payer perspective in the UAE.

As it can be seen on satellite images, geological, and geomorphological maps, the Jebel Hafit and its foothills are a rare example of landforms developed at the transition between a compressive area in the east, i.e. the Northern Oman Mountains, and a stable cratonic platform in the west, i.e. the Arabic Platform which, from a structural point of view, represents the foreland of the previous folded domain. The mountains of Jebel Hafit formed in response to two main orogenic events in Late Cretaceous (obduction of Semail Ophiolite and associated rocks) and in the Late Eocene to Miocene (formation of foreland folds). Concerning the environment, landforms of the Jebel Hafit appears today under extreme arid climatic conditions. But, as it is evidenced by the density and variety of archaeological remains that have led to the inscription of the sites on the World Heritage List, the situation was different yesterday. It is well known that desert have changed through time, so present conditions may not necessarily be those that have moulded desert surface. This is particularly clear when we travel back by the thought from present to a more or less distant period in the past. It is therefore legitimate to study the biophysical remnants of paleo-environments, which accompany the development of human settlements and the increasing impact of societies on the environment. A particular challenge will be to discriminate clearly the effect of the active present-day climatic-driven processes (such as thermal fatigue weathering, salt weathering, wind corrasion, sporadic flooding…) and those of prehistoric times, which requires a geoarchaeological and paleoenvironmental approach of the Holocene as a whole and also before (Late Pleistocene). An important point not to be forgotten is that severe rainstorms happen on the area only at a highly variable temporal scale, especially hurricanes coming from the Indian Ocean and that may travel west of the Oman Mountains. At the level of

Studies have shown that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the Middle East have delayed diagnosis and low disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) utilization. We describe the characteristics and treatments of consecutive RA patients presenting to a new musculoskeletal clinic in Dubai,

Following recovery and successful rehabilitation, a young Steppe Eagle Aquila nipalensis was tagged with a 45 g GPS satellite transmitter to track its migration and identify potential wintering and summering areas of the species passing through the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). The study is part of a larger study on ...

Full Text Available To promote Arabic teaching, researchers examined attitudes and expectations of parents regarding the importance of their children's Arabic study. In four states Researchers surveyed 238 Arabic-speaking and 128 non-Arabic speaking parents of children at urban and suburban schools offering Arabic as part of their mainstream programs. Most parents demonstrated positive attitudes toward language learning. They involved and encouraged their children's Arabic study and involved themselves in it. Arabic-speaking parents believed Arabic important for their children to maintain communication and affinity with family; preserve culture, religion, and traditions; maintain cultural heritage in the United States; and maintain moral and professional values. Non-Arabic speaking parents expressed similar reasons. However, Arabic-speaking parents recognized a wider variety of benefits to learning Arabic. Researchers concluded that parental attitudes toward language learning have great impact on children's learning process, but noted a discrepancy between the attitudes and expectations of Arabic- versus non-Arabic-speaking parents regarding learning Arabic.

Each year about 350 000 Indonesian women go abroad to work. ... as excessive hours, unremunerated overtime, violence, debt entrapment and unenforceable ... Call for new OWSD Fellowships for Early Career Women Scientists now open.

Full Text Available OXA-48-producing isolates were identified in approximately 4% and less than 1% of ESBL-producing and non-ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae causing bacteremia at the largest tertiary hospital in Abu Dhabi.

Full Text Available This paper examines the value relevance of accounting information in per and post-periods of International Financial Reporting Standards implementation using the regression and portfolio approaches for sample of the UAE companies. The results obtained from a combination of regression and portfolio approaches, show accounting information is value relevant in UAE stock market. A comparison of the results for the periods before and after adoption, based on both regression and portfolio approaches, shows a decline in value relevance of accounting information after the reform in accounting standards. It could be interpreted to mean that following to IFRS in UAE didn’t improve value relevancy of accounting information. However, results based on and portfolio approach shows that cash flows’ incremental information content increased for the post-IFRS period.

There are two federal laws in the UAE from 1981 that are specific to people with mental illnesses and disabilities. Efforts are presently being made to develop other laws addressing the protection of the vulnerable population, including women, children and the elderly. A new updated Mental Health Act is needed to keep in line with the UAE's major leaps achieved in healthcare.

There are two federal laws in the UAE from 1981 that are specific to people with mental illnesses and disabilities. Efforts are presently being made to develop other laws addressing the protection of the vulnerable population, including women, children and the elderly. A new updated Mental Health Act is needed to keep in line with the UAE’s major leaps achieved in healthcare.

The Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), in preparing, issuing and implementing regulations is seeking to be consistent with IAEA Safety Standards, to use risk informed and performance-based methodologies, to capitalise on licensing in the country of origin and to follow internationally recognised practices. FANR's intent is to produce high level regulations which are not prescriptive and which focus on the essential aspects of safety. Regulatory guides will also be provided to assist licensees with compliance. This paper discusses an overview of the regulatory framework in the UAE, the planned scope of the proposed regulations, the approach being taken under an internal management system to develop these regulations and regulatory guides in the UAE and. The current status and future plans will also be provided. (authors)

Feb 10, 2018 ... education, Quality assurance, Competencies. This is an Open ... level, e.g., level 7 for a Bachelor's degree, level 9 for Master's, and level 10 for ... Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) curricula through several stages. .... with economic and social development .... 10] Available from: http://www.qualifications.ae/pdf/.

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to analyze the dividend performance of eight UAE based banks between the years 2001 and 2005. The analysis was undertaken by examining three sets of financial ratios that are routinely used to measure bank dividend performance. The main ratios that were employed put a particular focus on the banks’ ability to pay dividends in relation to market value of its share, earnings and ability to cover the payments. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to rank the performance, measuring the dispersion and the stability-variability of the indicators. Conclusions were then drawn from the computation of the descriptive analysis of ratios that allowed the author to make an effective comparison of said banks. This type of analysis was used to summarize the performance of each bank based on three criteria, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation of each banks performance. The findings showed that eight banks performed reasonably well during the period studied, but have different strategies in paying their dividends across the years under study. The analysis reveals that these banks have been affected by both internal and external factors.

gynaecological procedures having advantages over open surgery. Objective: To ... Models used may be useful for training gynaecological laparoscopy in developing countries. The long ... coordination and force needed to handle the tissues.2.

Urbanization in the Arab Gulf states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UnitedArabEmirates is analyzed. Topics discussed include the historical background to urbanization; current demographic trends in the region; urban characteristics and growth; socioeconomic factors influencing urbanization, with an emphasis on labor force structure; future urban strategy; and the need for urban research.

To assess, by means of self-administered structured questionnaire, the level of knowledge of primary schools teachers in Ajman with regards to the immediate emergency management of dental trauma. The questionnaire was sent to teachers in randomly selected primary schools in Ajman. A total of 161 teachers responded (response rate 84.4%). The questionnaire surveyed teachers' background, knowledge and management of tooth fracture, avulsion, and also investigated teachers' attitudes and self-assessed knowledge. Ninety-one percent of the teachers were females, 51.6% in their thirties and 61.5% had university qualification. Fifty teachers had received formal first aid training, and only thirteen of them recalled that they had received training on the management of dental trauma. Concerning the management of tooth fracture, 138 respondents (85.8%) gave the appropriate management for fractured tooth. One hundred twenty-one (75%) of the respondents indicated that is very urgent to seek professional assistance if a permanent tooth is avulsed, but they had little knowledge on the correct media for transporting the avulsed tooth. Most teaches were unsatisfied with their level of knowledge for dental trauma and the majority were interested in having further education on the topic. The findings revealed that the level of knowledge of management of dental trauma (especially tooth avulsion) among school teachers in Ajman is inadequate, and education campaigns are necessary to improve their emergency management of dental injuries.

The adjustment process and issues of 16 Arab international students enrolled at two universities in the Northeast of the United States were examined through this qualitative, exploratory study. The participants were from Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and UnitedArabEmirates and had been in the US for 2 to 5 years. In-depth…

As the oil reserves in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) are forecast to become depleted over the next 50 to 150 years, the emirate of Abu Dhabi has set a vision to develop a knowledge economy in order to develop alternative sources of revenue in areas such as tourism, alternative energy and innovative business enterprises. Reformation of its…

The United States has enduring strategic interests in the Persian Gulf region. To understand these interests and the Usa policy towards the Arab Gulf Monarchies, the french institute of international relations (IFRI) proposes this document. The following chapters are detailed: the United States and the Arab Gulf Monarchies, overview, Chief Unites States Objective: Access to oil, re-evaluating United States Foreign Policy in the Gulf, the second term (Usa strategy). (A.L.B.)

This research investigates aspects of epistemic beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers in the UnitedArabEmirates, and how these beliefs might be related to factors such as teachers' gender, location (where they live), and the subject they teach (humanities vs. science). A standardized Arabic version of the Epistemic Belief Inventory was…

Far East Asia, Indonesia, Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, UnitedArabEmirates ... trade trends and future challenges in the ASEAN Economic community. ... to be funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). ... In the Arab world, gender inequality in the labour market persists through ...

Full Text Available This article reveals, by studying correlative relationships between US regime support and regime properties, that the US foreign policy in the Middle East has traditionally helped governments to limit the political participation of Islamists, communists, enemies of Israel and populations that could be hostile to the US oil interests. This way the US economic and strategic security interests have contributed to human insecurity in the region. With the exception of the last interest, the US has relaxed its support for repression of the above-mentioned groups. This seems to be one of the international factors that made the Arab Spring possible.

The United States has enduring strategic interests in the Persian Gulf region. To understand these interests and the Usa policy towards the Arab Gulf Monarchies, the french institute of international relations (IFRI) proposes this document. The following chapters are detailed: the United States and the Arab Gulf Monarchies, overview, Chief Unites States Objective: Access to oil, re-evaluating United States Foreign Policy in the Gulf, the second term (Usa strategy). (A.L.B.)

Objective: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in five Arab countries, relative to age and sex. Methods: A multistage stratified random sampling technique was used to select the secondary school students from five Arab countries (Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Syria and UnitedArabEmirates). The total sample was 3,302 (1,584 males, 1,718 females). Weight and height were measured, and body mass index was used to calculate the proportion of overweight and obesity...

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), led by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates, is expected to arrive at Mars in January 2021. The EMM Science Data Center (SDC) is to be developed as a joint effort between MBRSC and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). The EMM SDC is responsible for the production, management, distribution, and archiving of science data collected from the three instruments on board the Hope spacecraft.With the respective SDC teams on opposite sides of the world evolutionary techniques and cloud-based technologies are being utilized in the development of the EMM SDC. This presentation will provide a top down view of the EMM SDC, summarizing the cloud-based technologies being implemented in the design, as well as the tools, best practices, and lessons learned for software development and management in a geographically distributed team.

Discoveries from the human genome, HapMap, and 1000 genome projects have collectively contributed toward the creation of a catalog of human genetic variations that has improved our understanding of human diversity. Despite the collegial nature of many of these genome study consortiums, which has led to the cataloging of genetic variations of different ethnic groups from around the world, genome data on the Arab population remains overwhelmingly underrepresented. The National Arab Genome project in the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) aims to address this deficiency by using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to provide data to improve our understanding of the Arab genome and catalog variants that are unique to the Arab population of the UAE. The project was conceived to shed light on the similarities and differences between the Arab genome and those of the other ethnic groups.

In response to a request from the UAR Government, the IAEA sent a Soviet expert, to make an on-the-spot study of data on the mining and processing of phosphates in the UAR and to examine the possibility of recovering uranium from the phosphate ores. In his report to the IAEA Director General, he has listed the following conclusions: 1.The uranium content of run-of-the-mine phosphoric ores in the UnitedArab Republic is very low and the recovery of uranium from them is therefore hardly likely to be an economic proposition. 2. It is essential to press on with prospecting work in order to discover richer uranium deposits and regions of phosphoritic ores. 3. It is essential to organize scientific research work on the recovery of uranium from the various types of uranium-bearing phosphoritic ores in the UnitedArab Republic, using mechanical concentrating methods and chemical processing methods. 4. The Agency could assist in carrying out this work either by sending as many technicians as a required to help in planning and undertaking the research work in the UAR or by getting appropriate Member States to carry out this work on preliminary samples of ore with the participation of representatives of the UAR

School nurses are challenged with more children having complex conditions, who are now surviving into school age. This is paralleled by a shift in focus of health systems toward primary care, and national efforts to develop the health-care services, especially those offered to vulnerable populations. Being at the forefront of this change, school…

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has caused an ongoing outbreak of severe acute respiratory tract infection in humans in the Arabian Peninsula since 2012. Dromedary camels have been implicated as possible viral reservoirs. We used serologic assays to analyze 651 dromedary

Full Text Available Nation branding is crucial in order to attract investment, boost exports and attract tourists and talented workforce. Nation branding stands between public diplomacy and economic benefits. An adequate policy of Nation Branding-based on a positive, credible and economically reliable image-can be able to extend the range of potential customers and of potential investors. With the aim of better understanding the new challenges, opportunities and threats existent in a globalized economy, the paper compares nation branding in the context of UAE and Qatar. The paper examines nation-branding as a driver for boosting the economy, taking into account that clichés and stereotypes (especially in the context of the Middle East can influence our perception towards one country or another. The analysis explores the strategy adopted in order that Dubai becomes the flagship-brand of the UAE. Abu Dhabi complements this strategy, driving UAE to the position of the most valuable brand in the Middle East. The paper further enquires the case of Qatar and compares it with the branding process of the UAE. Qatar has established various branding resources such as the Al Jazeera news network, international sport events and several cultural and educational exchange programs with international profile. The UAE strives to become an influencer in the global economy, overriding its dependence on hydrocarbon reserves. Qatar is richer in hydrocarbon reserves than the UAE; nevertheless, it shares the interest of detaching itself from the rentier economy. The study explores the fact that from 2014-onwards the global oil economy was hit hard, as the price of the oil barrel is at an historic low, thus it has become stringent for the Persian Gulf countries to diversify the revenue sources. As a result, their branding strategy has become even more salient. The processes undertaken for establishing nation-brands in the Gulf are noteworthy and constitute the focal point of the paper.

Emerging 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life can offer students with opportunities to enhance learning using rich collaborative asynchronous media. Virtual worlds are believed to impact the future of higher education and therefore, universities across the world are immersing themselves inside virtual worlds to establish a unique learning and…

The compiled Bouguer gravity anomaly map over parts of the ophiolite rocks of the Northern Oman Mountains suggests the existence of three partially serpentinized nappes: two along the Gulf of Oman coast with axes near Dadnah, near Fujira and the third 17 km SSE of Masafi. Modeling of the subsurface geology, beneath two gravity profiles (Diba-Kalba and Masafi-Fujira), is based on the occurrence (field evidence) of multiphase low-angle thrusting of the members of the Tethyan lithosphere in northern and Oman Mountains. An assumed crustal model at the Arabian continental margin, beneath the Masafi-Fujira profile, is made to explain an intense gravity gradient. Gravity interpretation is not inconsistent with a gliding mechanism for obduction of the ophiolite on this part of the Arabian continental margin.

The worldwide technology boom has created an information revolution. Consequently, a large number of people who previously had limited access to geographic data can now use Internet-based geographic information for a number of diverse purposes. The average person has access to geographic information for tourism, shopping, business, and even route…

Full Text Available To carry out their duties more effectively, health care professionals in the UAE often ask about the population structure and the main causes of mortality and morbidity in the country. This paper summarizes what is known about these topics drawing on secondary data sources that are available in the public domain, including census data, population estimates, births and deaths, proportionate mortality, age-standardized mortality rates and disability adjusted life-years. There are inconsistencies and flaws in some of this data which this paper will highlight and attempt to explain. Since 2005, the UAE population has grown substantially owing to high natural growth and high net inward migration and is currently estimated to be about 8.2 million. In 2008, injuries, heart disease, neoplasms and cerebrovascular disease accounted for 57% of deaths, and this is well known. Less is reported about the risk of death, disease, injury and disability. The population of the UAE is diverse, and there are variations in mortality and morbidity risk by age-group, sex and nationality. The authors recommend improvements in the timeliness, completeness and consistency of data. They conclude that better data will encourage more analysis which will generate health intelligence leading to health improvement for the UAE population.

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Intestinal parasitic infections are prevalent throughout many countries. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite carriers among 21,347 expatriate workers, including food handlers and housemaids attending the public health center laboratory in Sharjah, UAE. Stool sample collection was performed throughout the period between January and December 2013. All samples were examined microscopically. Demographic data were also obtained and analyzed. Intestinal parasites were found in 3.3% (708/21,347 of the studied samples (single and multiple infections. Among positive samples, six hundred and eighty-three samples (96.5% were positive for a single parasite: Giardia lamblia (257; 36.3% and Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar (220; 31.1%, respectively, whereas mono-infections with helminths accounted for 206 (29.1% of the samples. Infection rates with single worms were: Ascaris lumbricoides (84; 11.9%, Hookworm (34; 4.8%, Trichuris trichiura (33; 4.7%, Taenia spp. (27; 3.81%, Strongyloides stercoralis (13; 1.8%, Hymenolepis nana (13; 1.8%, and Enterobius vermicularis (2; 0.28%, respectively. Infections were significantly associated with gender (x2 = 14.18; p = 0.002 with males as the most commonly infected with both groups of intestinal parasites (protozoa and helminths. A strong statistical association was noted correlating the parasite occurrence with certain nationalities (x2= 49.5, p <0.001. Furthermore, the study has also found a strong statistical correlation between parasite occurrence and occupation (x2= 15.60; p = 0.029. Multiple infections were not common (3.5% of the positive samples, although one individual (0.14% had four helminth species, concurrently. These findings emphasized that food handlers with different pathogenic parasitic organisms may pose a significant health risk to the public.

Nation branding is crucial in order to attract investment, boost exports and attract tourists and talented workforce. Nation branding stands between public diplomacy and economic benefits. An adequate policy of Nation Branding-based on a positive, credible and economically reliable image-can be able to extend the range of potential customers and of potential investors. With the aim of better understanding the new challenges, opportunities and threats existent in a globalized economy, the pape...

... the same methodology as described with respect to DWE. The petitioner also made a circumstance-of-sale... to the nail, having a bright or galvanized finish, a ring, fluted or spiral shank, an actual length... as an umbrella head), a smooth or spiral shank, a galvanized finish, an actual length of 1.75'' to 3...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk of transmission of Mycoplasma spp. from quarry to hunting falcons in the Middle East. Groups of 17 houbara bustards (Chlamydotis undulata) and 29 stone curlews (Burhinus oedicnemus) kept at three different private collections in Dubai were evaluated for the presence of Mycoplasma. Additionally, 10 falcons used for hunting were investigated for comparison. The falcons showed no clinical signs and were examined within the scope of a routine health check. From all birds, conjunctival and choanal swabs were taken and analyzed via polymerase chain reaction and culture. Although mycoplasmas were not recovered from choanal and conjunctival swabs taken from the houbara bustards, Mycoplasma gypis and M. falconis were isolated from the majority (28/29; 97%) of the stone curlews from choanal and conjunctival swabs. Most of the birds had no associated pathologic findings. Mycoplasma falconis was also detected in samples collected from 2 of the 10 falcons, and M. buteonis was isolated from the majority of falcons (6/10 falcons) from choanal (n = 5) and conjunctival (n = 1) swabs. Mycoplasma gypis could also be isolated from tissue samples (liver, oviduct, syrinx) of one dead stone curlew. This study presents the first isolation of mycoplasmas from stone curlews.

A pilot investigation using radioactivity together with chemical features was conducted to characterize groundwater sampled from wells drilled in fractured Paleogen-Neogen carbonate rocks along the foothill of about 1200 m absl high mountain and wells drilled in Quaternary clastic sediments from a nearby alluvial plain in the southeastern part of the UAE. These two water modes are relatively easily separated by their chloride and EC (salt content) contents and provide an ideal case for testing radioactivity fingerprints. The groundwater of the alluvial plain, which is expected to reflect a short distance precipitation recharge source, indicates a concentration of {sup 222}Rn and {sup 226}Ra 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the groundwater of the carbonate rocks. The range of variability for gross alpha is similar, but the gross beta activity indicates only 1 order of magnitude difference between the two water types. The radioactively richer groundwater of the carbonate aquifers compared to the alluvium plane may reflect the signature of deep basinal fluids. These marked differences in radioactivity of the two water modes clearly suggests that radioactive fingerprinting can provide a potential method for the identification groundwater sources in the UAE. (author)

Intestinal parasitic infections are prevalent throughout many countries. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasite carriers among 21,347 expatriate workers, including food handlers and housemaids attending the public health center laboratory in Sharjah, UAE. Stool sample collection was performed throughout the period between January and December 2013. All samples were examined microscopically. Demographic data were also obtained and analyzed. Intestinal parasites were found in 3.3% (708/21,347) of the studied samples (single and multiple infections). Among positive samples, six hundred and eighty-three samples (96.5%) were positive for a single parasite: Giardia lamblia (257; 36.3%) and Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar (220; 31.1%), respectively, whereas mono-infections with helminths accounted for 206 (29.1%) of the samples. Infection rates with single worms were: Ascaris lumbricoides (84; 11.9%), Hookworm (34; 4.8%), Trichuris trichiura (33; 4.7%), Taenia spp. (27; 3.81%), Strongyloides stercoralis (13; 1.8%), Hymenolepis nana (13; 1.8%), and Enterobius vermicularis (2; 0.28%), respectively. Infections were significantly associated with gender (x2 = 14.18; p = 0.002) with males as the most commonly infected with both groups of intestinal parasites (protozoa and helminths). A strong statistical association was noted correlating the parasite occurrence with certain nationalities (x2= 49.5, p parasite occurrence and occupation (x2= 15.60; p = 0.029). Multiple infections were not common (3.5% of the positive samples), although one individual (0.14%) had four helminth species, concurrently. These findings emphasized that food handlers with different pathogenic parasitic organisms may pose a significant health risk to the public.

Immigrant entrepreneurship has always existed and has developed remarkably. It is related to migration flows over time and has brought increasing attention from researchers and management practitioners in recent years. The research sets out to investigate the process by which immigrants enter into entrepreneurship. The idea of starting a small business and the internationalization strategies they follow. A homogeneous ethnic minority is researched upon, the East African Asians who had migrate...

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning on eighth grade students' performance in algebra. 54 boys and 57 girls in four middle-school mathematics classes of Grade 8 in the UAE participated. Over a 3-wk. period, two classes (57 students) were taught using a cooperative learning method, and the other two classes (54 students) were taught using the traditional lecture method. Analysis of covariance using pretest scores as a covariant showed no statistically significant increase in the algebra performance for students in the cooperative learning groups compared with the traditional groups. However, boys in the cooperative setting improved significantly on the performance test compared with boys in the traditional setting.

... HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, our written description of the.... sales, we examine selling functions along the chain of distribution between the respondent and the... regarding the selling functions involved in its home market and U.S. sales, including a description of these...

To measure the quality of life in a representative sample of infertile women and evaluate their sociocultural attitude to this condition. Two hundred sixty-nine infertile women attending the Assisted Reproduction clinic, Tawam Hospital were consecutively selected. They were interviewed about the effect of infertility on their quality of life using a structured, measurement-specific and pre-tested questionnaire. Parameters mostly affected were mood-related mainly in women above 30 years, with primary and female factor infertility and those in polygamous marriages. Quality of life did not affect sexual performance and was not affected by duration of infertility or cost of treatment. The results highlight the importance of bearing children and the stresses exerted on infertile women in Eastern societies. Thorough counseling and continuing support of infertile women is therefore indicated to improve their quality of life.

The international branch campus has emerged as a popular form of transnational higher education but to date little research has been undertaken on student perceptions and experiences, other than the student feedback evaluations conducted by institutions. This research employed a survey questionnaire to investigate student perceptions of study at…

In the present study, we provide a detailed study of seismic wave attenuation obtained from four oilfields. The reservoir zones of these oilfields are complicated due to complex fracture networks, the presence of tar mat and high heterogeneity of carbonate rocks of which the subsurface of Abu Dhabi is mainly composed. These complexities decrease signal-to-noise ratio and make attenuation estimation difficult. We obtained high-resolution attenuation profiles from vertical seismic profiling (VSP) and sonic waveform data. The VSP data were recorded in all four oilfields and the sonic data were acquired in the reservoir zones of oilfields I and IV. We found that the VSP scattering attenuation ({Q}{{S}{{c}}{{a}}{{t}}}-1) varies from -0.080 to 0.180 over a depth range of 400-3500 m. We attributed this significant scattering to the high heterogeneity of carbonate rocks. The scattering profiles seem to be sensitive to fractures, lithology heterogeneity and tar mat, but their effect is superimposed. The VSP intrinsic attenuation varies from -0.15 to 0.246 with high variation within each formation. Since intrinsic attenuation is closely related to fluids, we assumed that this variation is due to the non-uniform distribution of fluids caused by the complex porosity network of the subsurface. The sonic monopole attenuation ({Q}{{M}{{f}}}-1) in the reservoir zones ranges between 0.033-0.094 and dipole inline attenuation ({Q}{{I}{{n}}{{l}}}-1) ranges from 0.040-0.138. The sonic attenuation appears to be sensitive to the presence of fluid and type of fractures, where it shows high attenuation for open fractures and low attenuation for resistive fractures. The zones with high clay content display high sonic intrinsic attenuation in the reservoir of oilfield II. We explain this by the frictional movement between the clay and carbonates due to the elasticity contrast of these two materials. Therefore, the solid grain friction may be the dominant attenuation mechanism in those zones.

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to investigate the ways of achieving Science, Technology and Innovation (STI in UAE. Previously, sustainability within an entrepreneurship context has been related to economic viability as opposed to sustainability in its broadest sense. Through a survey research method, we have highlighted the effects of three independent variables and two intervening variables on three important outcomes, innovation, need for achievement and motivation, which ultimately contributes towards STI. These data have been collected from the students of a well-known university in Al-Ain, UAE. The responses of 251 students have been utilized for analysis. For hypotheses testing, we used AMOS 18 (Structural Equation Modeling and SPSS 20. The study revealed that all of the predictors have a strong effect on the outcome variables, which leads to STI in UAE. There is a strong need to revise the curriculum of higher education institutions of UAE to develop self-confidence, locus of control and risk taking propensity among students. The study provides novel insight into entrepreneurship education and serves as an initial benchmark in the field.

In academia, smooth progression of students significantly depends on the way curricula are developed and organized. Curricula or study plans with high degree of interconnectivity between courses, multiple prerequisites, and hierarchically structured courses tend to complicate the smooth progress of the enrolled students. In this work, a rigorous…

A pilot investigation using radioactivity together with chemical features was conducted to characterize groundwater sampled from wells drilled in fractured Paleogen-Neogen carbonate rocks along the foothill of about 1200 m absl high mountain and wells drilled in Quaternary clastic sediments from ...

In spite of future uncertainties about industrial algae biofuel production, the UAE is planning to become "a world leader in biofuels from the algae industry by 2020;" thus joining major countries which have already started producing renewable energy and biofuels (biodiesel and bioethanol) from rene...

No thorough documentation of the figitid fauna has ever been undertaken for the whole of the Arabian Peninsula. To this end, presented here is a list of species documented from the fieldwork of Antonius van Harten and colleagues, as well as a key and diagnoses for all genera of Figitidae in the Uni...

Research demonstrate that vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with bone diseases (e.g., osteoporosis), muscle cramps, back pain, heart diseases, diabetes mellitus, etc. The lack of knowledge and poor practice of study subjects regarding vitamin D deficiency became evident in this study. Vitamin D is vital for the growth and development of the body throughout the life span. The aim of this study is to investigate the knowledge and the practices related to vitamin D deficiency among the adult population in Sharjah, UAE. A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults aged 20-40 years in Sharjah, UAE. Participants were selected from public places using convenience sampling method. They were subjected to a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20 software. All knowledge-related questions were summed up, where a correct answer was given 1 point and incorrect one a 0, yielding a score out of 43. Subjects' scores were then transformed to a percentage. A total of 503 adults were included in the study. They had a mean age of 30 years (±5.47) with a relatively homogenous gender distribution (51 % females). The mean knowledge score on vitamin D deficiency was 16.7 out of 43 (39 %). Less than half of the respondents (43 %) knew that sunlight is the main source of vitamin D. The mean score for participants' practice was 2.34 out of 6 (39 %); 77 % of them reported that they tried to avoid sun exposure, and 97 % had not tested vitamin D levels in their blood before. The majority of the adults demonstrated significant lack of knowledge and poor practices towards vitamin D and its deficiency. Therefore, attempts to increase the awareness about this issue are required through establishing educational campaigns targeting the general public in Sharjah, UAE.

The purpose of this paper is to determine potential identifiers of students' academic success in foundation mathematics course from the data logs of the intelligent tutor Assessment for Learning using Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS). A cross-sectional study design was used. A sample of 152 records, which accounts to approximately 60% of the population,…

Introduction The purpose of this multicenter study was to assess differences in demographics, medical history, treatment times, and follow-up status among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), who were transported to the hospital by emergency medical services (EMS) or by private vehicle, or were transferred from other medical facilities. Methods This multicenter study involved the collection of both retrospective and prospective data from 455 patients admitted to four hosp...

The purpose of this multicenter study was to assess differences in demographics, medical history, treatment times, and follow-up status among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), who were transported to the hospital by emergency medical services (EMS) or by private vehicle, or were transferred from other medical facilities. This multicenter study involved the collection of both retrospective and prospective data from 455 patients admitted to four hospitals in Abu Dhabi. We collected electronic medical records from EMS and hospitals, and conducted interviews with patients in person or via telephone. Chi-square tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to examine differences in variables by mode of transportation. Results indicated significant differences in modes of transportation when considering symptom-onset-to-balloon time (p transported by EMS, private vehicle, or transferred from an outside facility were as follows: symptom-onset-to-balloon time in hours, 3.1 (1.8-4.3), 3.2 (2.1-5.3), and 4.5 (3.0-7.5), respectively; door-to-balloon time in minutes, 70 (48-78), 81 (64-105), and 62 (46-77), respectively. In all cases, EMS transportation was associated with a shorter time to treatment than other modes of transportation. However, the EMS group experienced greater rates of in-hospital events, including cardiac arrest and mortality, than the private transport group. Our results contribute data supporting EMS transportation for patients with acute coronary syndrome. Although a lack of follow-up data made it difficult to draw conclusions about long-term outcomes, our findings clearly indicate that EMS transportation can speed time to treatment, including time to balloon inflation, potentially reducing readmission and adverse events. We conclude that future efforts should focus on encouraging the use of EMS and improving transfer practices. Such efforts could improve outcomes for patients presenting with STEMI.

The distribution of benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies from Recent coastline environments adjacent to the coastline of Abu Dhabi (UAE) was studied in detail with the aim to: 1) provide reliable analogs for understanding and interpreting the depositional environment of ancient shallow-marine sediments from the UAE; 2) assess any modifications in the distribution of benthic environments and sedimentary facies in an area affected by significant anthropogenic activities - particular construction and land reclamation. A total of 100 sea-floor sediment samples were collected in different shallow-marine sedimentary environments (nearshore shelf, beach-front, channels, ooid shoals, lagoon and mangals) close to the coastline of Abu Dhabi Island. Where possible, we revisited the sampling sites used in several studies conducted in the middle of last century (prior to any significant anthropogenic activities) to assess temporal changes in Recent benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies distribution during the last 50 years. Five foraminiferal assemblages were recognized in the studied area. Species with a porcellaneous test mainly belonging to the genera Quinqueloculina, Triloculina, Spiroloculina, Sigmoilinita are common in all studied areas. Larger benthic foraminifera Peneroplis and Spirolina are particularly abundant in samples collected on seaweed. Hyaline foraminifera mostly belonging to the genera Elphidium, Ammonia, Bolivina and Rosalina are also common together with Miliolidae in the nearshore shelf and beach front. Agglutinated foraminifera (Clavulina, Textularia, Ammobaculites and Reophax) are present in low percentages. The species belonging to the genera Ammobaculites and Reophax are present only in the finest grain samples particularly in lagoons and mangal environments and have not been reported previously in the studied area. The majority of the ooid shoal sediments, the coarser sediments of the beach-front and samples collected in dredged channels do not contain living foraminifera and the dead assemblage is mostly composed of a few specimens of coarse-sized Miliolidae with fragmented or abraded tests, probably transported from nearby environments. While the shallow-water settings of the Abu Dhabi coastline continue to be areas of active carbonate sedimentation, there have been significant changes in facies distributions over the last 50 years. In particular: × The opportunistic genera Ammonia and Elphidium have become more abundant. Reophax and Ammobaculites are reported in the area for the first time. × With anthropogenic activities some environments, such as inner lagoons, are lost whilst other areas show resilience to anthropogenic activities with little change in sedimentary facies distribution and foraminiferal assemblage. × No living foraminifera are found in dredged channels. The detailed analysis of these changes in foraminifera distribution and sedimentary facies allows us to further our understanding of the effects of anthropogenic activities on shallow-marine environments. By so doing, we are better able to distinguish between those changes that result from anthropogenic activities and those that are a result of naturally-occurring environmental perturbations.

The cultural heritage has always been an important tool in the political and identity formation of the nation-states. In the Western countries the gradual overcoming of nineteenth-century nationalism has paved the way for a post-modern use of their heritage, where tourism, market, culture, leisure and entertainment appear to be deeply interwoven. Museums, monuments and archaeological sites are important elements in the cultural and historical theming of consumption and in the promotion of ...

... Department also set aside a period of time for parties to comment on product characteristics to be used in... producer, Universal Tube and Plastic Industries, Ltd. (UTP), and its U.S. affiliate, Prime Metal Corp. USA (Prime Metal). After reviewing all comments, we have adopted the characteristics and hierarchy as...

Pharmacy practice has passed several rounds of advancements over the past few years. It had changed the traditional positioning criteria of pharmacists as business people into patient-centered healthcare professionals. This worldwide shift is increasingly accumulating pressure on UAE pharmacists to turn up into better level of service providing accompanied with higher demand of inter-personal skills and intellectual capabilities. This can be accomplished through stressing the significance of continuing pharmacy education in basic sciences as well as social and administrative pharmacy techniques and its collaboration in elevating the quality of pharmacy practice in the UAE.

This paper is concerned with exploring the microsystem of teachers' experiences with education reform within the action research (AR) model for professional development (PD). Within the macrosystem of current major education reform in the UAE, it is timely to explore teachers' experiences of AR as PD to improve pedagogy. The process of engaging in…

Full Text Available BackgroundMedical students’ knowledge and understanding of theelderly will affect the quality of care to the rising populationof older adults which points to a need to identify geriatrichealth training methods appropriate for the region andcurriculum. Therefore the study assessed the effect of a cocurricularintroductory workshop on knowledge regardinggeriatric health and attitude towards the elderly amongfourth year medical students in a medical universityMethodA quasi-experimental before-after study, with control wasconducted at Gulf Medical College among 60 medicalstudents from discipline-based curriculum in year IV duringMay–June 2010 of whom 16 had opted (attendees toundergo the introductory course, a five day workshop of 10hours duration. Pre- and post-testing used self-administeredquestionnaires for demographic variables: age, gender,nationality, close contact with older people; a quiz on oldpeople’s health, and Kogan’s Old People Scale (KOPS forattitude. The difference in scores on quiz and KOPS werecompared for the attendees and 26 non-attendees whoparticipated in both pre and post testing.ResultsThe attendees group had 38% male and 62% femaleparticipants and the non-attendees group had 21% and 79%respectively. The groups were not significantly different inage, sex, nationality and close contact with the elderly. Thescores on the quiz and KOPS showed no statisticallysignificant difference between the two groups before orafter the workshop. Almost all the participants evaluatedthe workshop very positively especially the interaction withhealthy elderly and inmates of old people’s home.ConclusionA 10-hour introductory co-curricular workshop made nosignificant change in the knowledge on geriatric health orattitude of fourth year medical students though theyreported it as a very enriching experience. A reflectivereport may have been a better assessment tool and theimpact on their clinical practice cannot be predicted.

Full Text Available BackgroundResilience is the capacity to recover and to cope successfullywith everyday challenges. Resilience has intrinsic andextrinsic components and an effort has been made to studythe intrinsic component and its association with sociodemographicfactors, among the entry level students of theIntegrated Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery(MBBS course.MethodThe present study was conducted in Gulf MedicalUniversity, using a self-administered questionnaire,comprising of two parts, distributed to all the students whoconsented to participate. The first part contained questionson socio-demographic details while the second partcontained questions on the intrinsic and extrinsiccomponents of resilience of the students. The datacollected was analysed using Predictive Analytic Software(PASW 18.0 using frequency, mean, SD and median.ResultsAmong the 58 students who participated 24 (41.4% weremales and 34 (58.6% females, of which 70.7% were 20years. The mean score for the intrinsiccomponent of resilience was 48.9 (SD, 5 and range 35–60.The median scores showed no significant variation (p<0.05with age, gender, religion, nationality, family structure,highest education among parents, the person they sharetheir feelings with or the number of friends. However,minimally higher scores were noted in the median scores ofstudents from nuclear families, with Western nationalityand those whose parents had a university level education,who shared their feelings with people of their owngeneration or outside their family and who have 5–9friends.ConclusionThe intrinsic component of resilience was found to bealmost uniform for the study group and the level is high. Astudy has to further look into its effect on coping with thestresses encountered during the academic year.

Full Text Available Branding represents the instrument through which an entity communicates and identifies itself in the consumer’s perception. National branding is a similar mean employed at country level. Nation branding is crucial in order to attract investment, boost exports and attract tourists and talented workforce. Nation branding stands between public diplomacy and economic benefits. An adequate policy of Nation Branding-based on a positive, credible and economically reliable image- can be able to extend the range of potential customers and of potential investors. With the aim of better understanding the new challenges, opportunities and threats existent in a globalized economy, the paper evaluates nation branding in the context of UAE and Qatar. The paper examines nation-branding as a driver for boosting the economy, taking into account that clichés and stereotypes (especially in the context of the Middle East can influence our perception towards one country or another. The analysis explores the strategy adopted in order that Dubai becomes the flagship-brand of the UAE. Abu Dhabi complements this strategy, driving UAE to the position of the most valuable brand in the Middle East. The paper further enquires the case of Qatar and compares it with the branding process of the UAE. Qatar has established various branding resources such as the Al Jazeera news network, international sport events and several cultural and educational exchange programs with international profile. The UAE strives to become an influencer in the global economy, overriding its dependence on hydrocarbon reserves. Qatar is richer in hydrocarbon reserves than the UAE; nevertheless, it shares the interest of detaching itself from the rentier economy. The study explores the fact that from 2014-onwards the global oil economy was hit hard, as the price of the oil barrel is at an historic low, thus it has become stringent for the Persian Gulf countries to diversify the revenue sources. As a result, their branding strategy has become even more salient. The processes employed for establishing nation-brands in the Gulf are noteworthy and constitute the focal point of the paper.

...-business meetings, market briefings and networking events. In all three countries, the governments and... briefings by U.S. Embassy officials, as well as networking events offering further opportunities to speak...); development of the Etihad Rail network to link the UAE's major ports and cities; development of Dubai's new Al...

...-business meetings, market briefings and networking events. In all three countries, the governments and... briefings by U.S. Embassy officials, as well as networking events offering further opportunities to speak...); development of the Etihad Rail network to link the UAE's major ports and cities; development of Dubai's new Al...

Due to its valuable benefits and potential risks, there is a progressing debate among opponents and proponents of biotechnology in recent decades. Previous studies have shown that lack of knowledge about biotechnology remains the concern about genetically modified organisms/food (GMO/GMF). This study assessed levels of educational awareness…

Phobic anxiety disorders generally breed true. In this regard, family studies have suggested an association between childhood shyness and maternal social phobia. In this study, the relationship between childhood shyness and maternal social anxiety was examined. 203 5-year-old children from an Arabian Gulf community and their mothers were evaluated. The children were assessed in stage 1 using the shyness scale of Stevenson-Hinde and Glover and the Preschool Behavior Checklist (PBCL), while mothers completed the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. In the second stage, blind clinical interviews were carried out to ascertain the diagnosis of psychiatric diagnoses, if any, using DSM-IV criteria. 27% of the children were identified as shy using the shyness scale of Stevenson-Hinde and Glover and 19% scored above the cutoff for behavioral disturbance on the PBCL. Child shyness was associated with female gender and maternal social anxiety as indicated by scores on the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, while an inverse relationship was noted with behavioral disturbance. The odds of the child having a high shyness score was increased if the mother had social anxiety (odds ratio = 2.14) and the child lived in a family that was 'not socially active' (odds ratio = 1.42). Our initial findings suggest that there may be a complex interaction between maternal social anxiety and family sociability in childhood shyness. Prospective longitudinal work is indicated. Copyright 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The annual CO 2 emissions have more than doubled in the UAE since 1990. Electricity generated by fossil fuels is responsible for almost half of the country's emissions. Keeping with the Kyoto Protocol, the UAE decided to integrate nuclear energy into the electricity scheme to mitigate CO 2 emissions as declared by the government. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the UAE's proposed nuclear energy strategy in mitigating CO 2 emissions from the built environment up to year 2050. The IAEA's simulation model “MESSAGE” is used to estimate the energy demand and CO 2 emissions in the UAE up to year 2050. Several energy supply/fuels scenarios are modeled and simulated including the following: Business as Usual (BaU), the UAE proposed nuclear strategy (APR1400) as well as 12 more aggressive Clean Energy Era (CEE) proposed scenarios. Nuclear energy, especially in its extreme CEE scenario (8NPPs), was found to be more practical option in mitigating CO 2 than renewable energy and carbon capture and sequestration among the simulated scenarios. Nuclear energy also demonstrated an economic viability. The cost of electricity produced from nuclear energy was calculated to be 3.2 cents/kWh, significantly less than the current cost of 8.15 cents/kWh for electricity generation from fossil fuels in the UAE. - Highlights: ► Effectiveness of the UAE's proposed nuclear energy strategy in mitigating CO 2 emissions. ► Simulation is used to estimate the energy demand and CO 2 emissions in the UAE. ► Tested several energy supply/fuels scenarios on mitigating CO 2 .

Reports on suicide from the Gulf region are scarce. Dubai is a city with a large expatriate population. However, total and gender-specific suicide rates for the national and expatriate populations are not known. To investigate total and gender-specific suicide rates in the national and expatriate population in Dubai and to elicit socio-demographic characteristics of suicide victims. Registered suicides in Dubai from 2003 to 2009, and aggregated socio-demographic data of suicide victims were analysed. Suicide rates per 100,000 population were calculated. Suicide rate among expatriates (6.3/100,000) was seven times higher than the rate among the nationals (0.9/100,000). In both groups, male suicide rate was more than three times higher than the female rate. Approximately three out of four expatriate suicides were committed by Indians. The majority of suicide victims were male, older than 30 years, expatriate, single and employed, with an education of secondary school level and below. Further research on risk factors for and protective factors against suicide, particularly among the expatriate population, is needed. Epidemiological monitoring of suicide trends at the national level and improvement of UAE suicide statistics would provide useful information for developing suicide prevention strategies.

Full Text Available Background. Over-the-counter medications are widely available in pharmacies Their safety profile, however, does not extend to pregnant women. Accordingly, there should be educational programs developed for pregnant women to protect them from the harms of the side effects. Aim. This study was planned and designed with the aim of exploring the awareness and assessing the usage of OTC medications among pregnant women in Sharjah, UAE. Method. A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire. Results. More than three-quarters (75.7% reported that they are familiar with the term “over-the-counter drugs.” Interestingly, 40% of the respondents reported that they took OTC drugs during pregnancy, and the majority (94.2% agreed with the survey statement “not all OTC medications are safe to be taken during pregnancy.” Constipation was the most frequent side effect that most of the participants reported during the study period. Folic acid (36%, calcium (28.6%, and iron (35.1% were the most common supplements used by the pregnant women responding. Conclusion. The reported 40% usage of OTC medications among pregnant women in this study is worrisome and calls for the need to educate, counsel, and increase awareness among pregnant women regarding the dangers of OTC drugs usage while pregnant in Sharjah, UAE.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a significant public health problem adversely affecting mothers, their newborns, and other members of the family. Although PPD is common and potentially dangerous, only a minority of the cases are identified in primary health care settings during routine care, and the majority of depressed mothers in the community lies unrecognized and therefore untreated. In this study, a total of 1500 mothers were approached randomly, 808 accepted to participate, and 504 were within the inclusion criteria (women who had a birth of a singleton full-term healthy infant, had an uncomplicated pregnancy, and were within their one week to six months postpartum). The participants completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. A total of 168 women had an EPDS score ≥10, yielding a crude prevalence rate of 33%. The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 14 out of 504 (3%), among which 11 (79%) had EPDS score of ≥10. We fitted multiple linear regression models to evaluate the predictors of variables measured on the EPDS scale. This model was statistically significant pemployment status, baby's birth weight, stressful life event and marital conflict were statistically significant predictors. The findings of this study are anticipated to entail the government and policy makers in the region to pay more attention to the apparently high prevalence of unrevealed PPD in the community. It is crucial to enhance screening mechanisms for early detection, providing interventions to manage symptoms, and at the same time mandating local guidelines to address the PPD pathology as a high priority for the UAE population.

The main objective of this study was to offer an insight on the issue of continuing education (CE) in the UAE and to determine the type and format of CE pharmacists in this country prefer to attend and consider most effective. A multi-theme survey was developed to find the reasons pharmacists choose to attend different CE programs, the survey assessed continuing education needs and preferences of pharmacists. Survey items included the types of formats and topics pharmacists prefer to attend and think are most useful to enhance their knowledge and skill. Finally the survey explored some barriers pharmacists conceive as such to attending effective CE. One hundred thirty-two surveys were included in this study, the vast majority of the participants were bachelor's degree holders who were 40 years and younger. The participant's main types of employment were marketing and hospital practice. Pharmacists' preferences as for the format and topic type for programs they would like to attend were identified and compared to other practice settings. Barriers to attending effective CE programs were also elicited. Interactive workshops were recognized as the most favorable format for CE in this study, computer and internet-based formats were also ranked highly by participants followed by live-in person and printed material-based programs. Topics covering innovations in pharmacy practice and disease management were at the top of priorities for pharmacists who would also like to see more certificate programs be offered to them.

This is the fourth in a series of Working Papers published by the CDS on Kerala migration. Unlike the other three, this one is financed by the Kerala Government and the data were collected in UAE. The objectives of this Working Paper are to: document changes in the labour demand for different categories of emigrant workers, enumerate the emigration policies, examine employment and working conditions, wage levels and related problems of the Kerala emigrants, understand the education and traini...

This paper describes briefly main informations on petroleum production, prices and markets trends, trade and contracts, petroleum and natural gas exploration in Gabon, Tunisia, UnitedArabEmirates, Egypt and Sudan. Algeria and Portugal have signed a contract for natural gas supply of 2.1 Gm 3

This is an overview of recent labor immigration in Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UnitedArabEmirates. Attention is given to factors contributing to the dependence of these countries on migrant labor, the impact of the decline in oil revenues, and future trends in the size and skill composition of the foreign labor supply.

We report on efforts to design the "Collaborative Workshop Physics" (CWP) instructional strategy to deliver the first interactive engagement (IE) physics course at Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research (KU), UnitedArabEmirates (UAE). To our knowledge, this work reports the first calculus-based, introductory mechanics…

Through ethnographic examples of students' engagement with American universities in the UnitedArabEmirates and Qatar, I argue that branch campuses have a particularly important relationship with emerging forms of racial consciousness, identity, and politicization among students, both citizen and foreign resident. This entry point is one that…

Abstract: This paper analyses current development plans published by the GCC states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UnitedArabEmirates) in order to explore the region’s future growth trajectory: what barriers to growth are foreseen and how can they be anticipated; what...

...). This timely and insightful set of papers written by two USAF area specialists provides complementary -- and together comprehensive -- coverage of the critical topic of Arab perceptions of United States policy...

.... The events of September 2001 caused important changes in the United States' national security policy, which led it to initiate aggressive foreign policies toward Islam in general, and Arabs in particular...

Although quantitative studies of educational research usually suggest some links between conditions of learning and student learning outcome, behavior and performance, the idea of engaging students in discussions on teaching and learning has not had as much attention in the UnitedArabEmirates as in some other countries. This paper presents…

Full Text Available Abstract:Purposes of this Study are evaluating the efficiency of sports marketing in the organizations of some Arab countries through the following sub-goals:1-Identify the philosophy of sports organizations towards sports marketing.2- Identify the extent and existence of an organizational unit to perform specialized functions for sports marketing activity.3- Determine the extent of the use effective marketing methods in sporting organizations in order to get the material and technical support required to implement the plans and programs.Research sample consisted of officials, members of boards of directors, and managers of sports bodies' in some Arab countries (Egypt, UnitedArabEmirates, Bahrain, and Qatar. Two hundred forty Seven board members from Egypt (N 101, UnitedArabEmirates (N 76, Bahrain (N 40, and Qatar (N30 were involved in the investigation. The Subjects were administered a Questionnaire developed by the researchers.The most important results are Research sample differed (clubs -sporting associations - the Olympic Committee Arab countries (Egypt - Emirates - Bahrain - Qatar in philosophy toward sport marketing. Sample search (clubs -sporting associations - the Olympic Committee Arab countries (Egypt - Emirates - Bahrain - Qatar agree on the sport marketing methods used sporting organizations. There are a difference among sample search sports organizations (clubs - Olympic Committee in Arab countries (Egypt - Emirates - Bahrain - Qatar and there are agreement by the sports federations in marketing efficiency. The most importance Recommendations are :1.Need to add sports fields of investment to create the appropriate field to become sports areas for attracting investment.2.Guarantee the right of return sporting bodies in competitions organized through the radio and television.3.Establishment channels of sports economic. 4.Exempt contributions businessmen and sponsor and the players from taxes.5.Use the name and logo and flag

This reference book is the only oil and gas encyclopedia in the world providing detailed country surveys on the oil and gas industry in the Arab countries and Iran. It provides thorough country reports and detailed statistics on oil and gas exploration, production, transport, refining and petrochemicals, as well as on development projects in all countries in the Middle East and North Africa: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UnitedArabEmirates and Yemen. Separate chapters cover OPEC and OAPEC, as well as world oil and gas statistics. It includes 53 maps and 268 tables and graphs, and 2420 addresses and contact names

Arab American women are an ethnic minority and immigrant population in the United States with unique and nuanced sociocultural factors that influence preventive health behaviors. The aims of this article are to evaluate and synthesize the existing evidence on cervical cancer screening behaviors, as well as determine factors that influence these behaviors, among Arab American women. . Extensive literature searches were performed using PubMed, CINAHL®, Scopus, Embase, and Cochrane databases; articles published through October 2015 were sought. . Of 17 articles, 14 explicitly identified Arab and/or Muslim women and cervical cancer screening in either the title or the abstract; the remaining three focused on cancer attitudes and behaviors in Arab Americans in general but measured cervical cancer screening. Eleven articles reported different aspects of one intervention. Because of methodologic heterogeneity, the current authors synthesized results narratively. . Key factors influencing cervical cancer screening were identified as the following. Cervical cancer screening rates among Arab American women are comparable to other ethnic minorities and lower than non-Hispanic White women. Findings are inconsistent regarding factors influencing cervical cancer screening behaviors in this underrepresented group. . Significant need exists for more research to better understand cervical cancer prevention behaviors in this group to inform culturally relevant interventions. Healthcare providers play a crucial role in increasing cervical cancer screening awareness and recommendations for Arab American women.

This paper describes briefly main informations on petroleum prices and market trends, trade and contracts, petroleum exploration and new discovery in Algeria and Libya, birth of a joint venture for the building of a gas pipeline between Ukraine and Europe. The building of another pipeline, between Algeria and Europe, will begin in April 1993. Several agreements for oil and gas fields development in Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, UnitedArabEmirates have been signed. Petroleum industry has criticized energy taxing project in Usa.

Full Text Available This article1 analyzes three debut novels –Alicia Erian’s Towelhead (2005, Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan (2003, and Diana Abu-Jaber’s Arabian Jazz (1993– in order to explore the representation of fatherhood by the Arab diaspora in the United States. To do so, it will draw on Ralph La Rossa’s notion of “new father”, and on Julie Peteet’s and Daniel Monterescu’s ideas about Arab masculinity. It will then analyze the main father figures in the novels under the light of these concepts. It will finally conclude that the different existing models of Arab fatherhood move from traditionalism to liberalism, and that allows the possibility of “new fatherhoods” to emerge.

This qualitative study explored the factors that enhance Arab international students' persistence and facilitate their academic and cultural adjustment at postsecondary institutions in the United States. The sample for this study consisted of Arab international students from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Syria, UAE, Iraq, and Jordan. In-depth…

There is a lack of comparable data on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, which limits our understanding and interpretation of the relationship between obesity and lifestyle parameters. Therefore, we initiated the Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS). The ATLS is a multicenter collaborative project for assessing lifestyle habits of Arab adolescents. The objectives of the ATLS project were to investigate the prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, physical activity, sedentary activity and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, and to examine the interrelationships between these lifestyle variables. This paper reports on the objectives, design, methodology, and implications of the ATLS. The ATLS is a school-based cross-sectional study involving 9182 randomly selected secondary-school students (14-19 years) from major Arab cities, using a multistage stratified sampling technique. The participating Arab cities included Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar (Saudi Arabia), Bahrain, Dubai (UnitedArabEmirates), Kuwait, Amman (Jordan), Mosel (Iraq), Muscat (Oman), Tunisia (Tunisia) and Kenitra (Morocco). Measured variables included anthropometric measurements, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, and dietary habits. The ATLS project will provide a unique opportunity to collect and analyze important lifestyle information from Arab adolescents using standardized procedures. This is the first time a collaborative Arab project will simultaneously assess broad lifestyle variables in a large sample of adolescents from numerous urbanized Arab regions. This joint research project will supply us with comprehensive and recent data on physical activity/inactivity and eating habits of Arab adolescents relative to obesity. Such invaluable lifestyle-related data are crucial for developing public health policies and regional strategies for health promotion and disease prevention.

This paper describes briefly main informations on petroleum production, prices and market trends, trade and contracts, petroleum exploration in Bahrain, Ethiopia, Libya, Tunisia, UnitedArabEmirates and Yemen. In Ivory Coast, a consortium led by Electricite de France and Bouygues has obtained the exploitation of Foxtrot natural gas field. Statistics on petroleum and natural gas reserves, production in the world in 1991 and 1992 are also given

This paper describes briefly main informations on petroleum prices and market trends, trade and contracts, petroleum exploration and new discovery in Algeria and Libya, birth of a joint venture for the building of a gas pipeline between Ukraine and Europe. The building of another pipeline, between Algeria and Europe, will begin in April 1993. Several agreements for oil and gas fields development in Qatar, Egypt, Yemen, UnitedArabEmirates have been signed. Petroleum industry has criticized energy taxing project in Usa

At its heart, Arab oil policy is inseparable from Arab economic and social policy. This holds whether we are talking about the Arab nations as a group or each separately. The seven Arab nations covered in this report-Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UnitedArabEmirates--participate in several organizations focusing on regional cooperation regarding economic development, social programs, and Islamic unity, as well as organizations concerned with oil policies. This report focuses on the oil-related activities of the countries that may reveal the de facto oil policies of the seven Persian Gulf nations. Nevertheless it should be kept in mind that the decision makers participating in the oil policy organizations are also involved with the collaborative efforts of these other organizations. Oil policies of five of the seven Arab nations are expressed within the forums of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). Only Oman, among the seven, is not a member of either OAPEC or OPEC; Bahrain is a member of OAPEC but not of OPEC. OPEC and OAPEC provide forums for compromise and cooperation among their members. Nevertheless, each member state maintains its own sovereignty and follows its own policies. Each country deviates from the group prescription from time to time, depending upon individual circumstances.

The Arab Muslim population is one of the dramatically increasing minorities in the United States. In addition to other factors, religion and cultural background influence individuals' beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes toward health and illness. The author describes health beliefs and practices of the Arab Muslim population in the United States. That population is at an increased risk for several diseases and faces many barriers to accessing the American health care system. Some barriers, such as modesty, gender preference in healthcare providers, and illness causation misconceptions, arise out of their cultural beliefs and practices. Other barriers are related to the complexity of the health care system and the lack of culturally competent services within it. Nurses need to be aware of these religious and cultural factors to provide culturally competent health promotion services for this population. Nurses also need to integrate Islamic teachings into their interventions to provide appropriate care and to motivate healthy behaviors.

This article is a comparative study of medical experiments on persons with special needs in Islamic jurisprudence and Arab laws; UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) law as case study. The current study adopts a comparative analytical and descriptive approach. The conclusion of this study points out that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Special Needs, ratified by a number of Arab States, including the UnitedArabEmirates, approves conducting medical experiments on persons with special needs, subject to their free consent. As a result of ratifying this Convention, a number of special laws were enacted to be enforced in the UnitedArabEmirates. On the other hand, this issue is controversial from an Islamic jurisprudence point of view. One group of jurisprudents permits conducting these experimentations if they are designed to treat the person involved, and prohibits such experimentations for scientific advancement. Other jurisprudents permit conducting medical experimentations on persons with special needs, whether the purpose of such experimentations is treatment of the disabled or achieving scientific advancement. The opinion of this group is consistent with the International Convention and the Arab laws in this respect. However, neither the Convention nor the Arab laws regulate this matter by specific and comprehensive conditions, as addressed by some contemporary scholars. It is recommended that the Convention and the Arab laws adopt these conditions. Additionally, the Convention does not state whether the experimentations may be conducted for the interest of the person with disability or for the purpose of scientific advancement. The text of the Convention is unclear and therefore requires further illumination.

... intercompany sales), in accordance with 19 CFR 351.525(b)(6)(ii). Analysis of Programs Based upon our analysis... (``CBP'') data on imports of subject merchandise during the period of investigation (``POI''), under..., ``Analysis of Petitioners' New Subsidy Allegations,'' dated March 16, 2012. On March 26, 2012, the Department...

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) announced a fall of $0.75/b of petroleum prices for sales executed in february. The production of the new deposit Neewat al-Ohalan, put in production in june 1995 is 7000 b/day. The production of the Mubarraz field is 20 000 b/day. The Abu Dhabi Onshore Oil Operating Company (Adco) has announced that all these projects have been realized in 1995. It is the first company of Abu Dhabi and its production capacity is one million of barrels by day. The contract for a refinery of 4.5 millions of tons /year at Mahmood Kot near Multan has been attributed to the Babcock King Wilkinson britain company and is expected for 2000. The project plans an extension of the pipeline, from Karachi to Multan, on 350 km towards Faisalabad and Lahore. (N.C.)

Increasingly, it is being recognised in higher and medical education that learners should be adequately prepared for the unpredictable nature of professional practice. Several generic or transferable skills or capabilities (e.g., communication, information handling) that will enable graduates to function in an ever-changing professional world have been identified. Using a validated inventory comprising six categories of transferable skills, three cohorts of incoming male and female medical students at a Gulf university documented their level of practice and confidence for 31 skills. The exercise was repeated a year later. New medical students identified computer and organisational skills and the ability to manage their learning as strengths, but scores for technical and numeracy, information handling and presentation and communication skills suggested that learners generally required guidance. A year later, despite considerable self-reported information handling and communication skills development, learners generally did not consider themselves self-sufficient. A significant gender difference emerged, with incoming males reporting less experience and confidence in many skills. This gap was reduced but did not disappear over the first academic year. An audit such as this may be useful for identifying individual skills levels as well as providing insight into shortcomings in the academic programme in terms of opportunities for transferable skills development.

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This study aimed at identifying the determining factors of service quality on customer satisfaction and loyalty towards hotel industry in UAE. This study has investigated the different dimensions of service quality that impact customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in UAE hotels. For this research, primary data were used to identify the dimensions of service quality that impact customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The use of primary data enabled the researcher to measure all the di...

In its approach to the development of a peaceful nuclear energy program, the UAE is committed to complete operational transparency, the highest standards of non-proliferation and to working directly with the IAEA. A strategy of continuous cooperation has been adopted in order to leverage the experience and recommendations of the IAEA early in the process of facility (reactor) construction and the establishment of the UAE Safeguards Structure. This strategy of early and continuous engagement since 2009 has proven to be of significant value. Reduced costs, reduced manpower requirements, and integration of safeguards into construction plans are all advantages realized with regard to generating and executing the safeguards approach for the UAE's nuclear program. Additional advantages include increased transparency, increased rapport between the IAEA and UAE and increased bilateral cooperation with other states. Challenges included establishing the appropriate information pathways while the program was still in formation. The conclusion is that early, continuous engagement with the IAEA for States beginning or expanding their peaceful nuclear programmes is strongly advised. (author)

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..., shaft lengths and shaft diameters. Finishes include, but are not limited to, coating in vinyl, zinc...://www.usitc.gov ). The public record for this investigation may be viewed on the Commission's electronic... prehearing staff report in the final phase of this investigation will be placed in the nonpublic record on...

Conclusion: Dyspepsia was reported by 43.8% of the repondents. These findings emphasize the importance of improving lifestyle and dietary factors associated with dyspepsia and raising awareness of reducing risk factors associated with dyspepsia. Further studies are needed on dyspepsia in a larger cohort of students in order to fully understand the complexity of this problem and be able to generalize the findings to other cohorts.

Good nutritional knowledge and behaviour among adolescents is important to avoid health problems that can continue into adulthood. This cross-sectional study aimed to provide baseline data on nutritional knowledge and eating habits of adolescents in Sharjah. Data were collected from 300 adolescents aged 9-13 years attending 4 private schools using a validated self-administered questionnaire. Most students (86%) had poor nutritional knowledge, especially in key areas: nutritional terms, what constitutes healthy snacks and foods, daily nutritional requirements and components of food (e.g. fibre, fat, sugar). Only 34% of the students had healthy eating behaviour: 33% had eaten none or 1 vegetable only in the previous week, 25% had eaten unhealthy snacks 3 or more times, 19% had eaten frequently or daily at fast food outlets, and 36% had skipped breakfast frequently or daily. Culturally-specific, school-based educational interventions are warranted to build sound nutritional knowledge among adolescents and motivate the diet and behaviour changes needed to promote health throughout the lifespan.

This study deals with the analysis of the characteristics of extreme temperature events in the Middle East, using NCEP reanalysis gridded data, for the summer (May-October) and winter (November-April) seasons. Trends in the occurrences of three types of heat spells during 1948-2014 are studied by both Linear Regression (LR) and Mann-Kendall (MK) test. Changes in the diurnal temperature range (DTR) are also investigated. To better understand the effects of heat spells on public health, the Humidex, a combination index of ambient temperature and relative humidity, is also used. Using percentile threshold, temperature (Humidex) Type-A and Type-B heat spells are defined respectively by daily maximum and minimum temperature (Humidex). Type-C heat spells are defined as the joint occurrence of Type-A and Type-B heat spells at the same time. In the Middle East, it is found that no coherent trend in temperature Type-A heat spells is observed. However, the occurrences of temperature Type-B and C heat spells have consistently increased since 1948. For Humidex heat spells, coherently increased activities of all three types of heat spells are observed in the area. During the summer, the magnitude of the positive trends in Humidex heat spells are generally stronger than temperature heat spells. More than half of the locations in the area show significantly negative DTR trends in the summer, but the trends vary according to the region in the winter. Annual mean temperature has increased an average by 0.5°C, but it is mainly associated with the daily minimum temperature which has warmed up by 0.84°C.Daily maximum temperature showed no significant trends. The warming is hence stronger in minimum temperatures than in maximum temperatures resulting in a decrease in DTR by 0.16 °C per decade. This study indicates hence that the UAE has not become hotter, but it has become less cold during 1948 to 2014.

Zonation of Recent mangrove environments can be defined using benthic foraminifera, however, little is known about foraminifera from mangrove environments of the Arabian Gulf. The objective of this study is to produce a detailed micropaleontological and sedimentological analysis to identify foraminiferal associations in several coastline environments (mangrove swamps and channels) located on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island (UAE). Detailed sediment sampling collection in mangal environments of Eastern Abu Dhabi was carried out to assess the distribution of living and dead benthic foraminifera in different sedimentary facies in the mangal and in the surrounding area comprising natural environments of the upper and lower intertidal area (mud flats and channels) and areas modified by anthropogenic activities (dredged channels). The fine-grain sediments collected near mangrove (Avicenna marina) roots presented a high abundance of living and dead foraminifera tests. The assemblages in these samples show very low diversity and are almost entirely constituted of small-sized opportunistic species belonging to the genera Ammonia and Elphidium. In particular: • Samples collected on the mud flat and in ponds at the margin of the channel show a foraminiferal assemblage characterised by abundant foraminifera belonging to the genera Ammonia, Elphidium, Triloculina, Quinqueloculina, Peneroplis and Spirolina. • Samples collected in the lower (wet) intertidal area close to Avicenna marina roots, presented a low-diversity assemblage mostly comprising opportunistic foraminifera of the genera Ammonia and Elphidium along with rare miliolidae. • Samples from the upper intertidal area (dry) close to Avicenna marina roots, produced an assemblage exclusively composed of small-sized opportunistic Ammonia and Elphidium, together with abundant specimens belonging to the genera Trochammina. Throchammina specimens have not been previously recorded from Recent sedimentary samples of the coastline environments of the Arabian Gulf. The samples collected in the higher energy settings (channels) were characterised by a very low abundance of foraminiferal tests, no or rare living forms were found in the coarser grained facies. Most of the samples collected in the dredged channels were barren. The distribution of Recent benthic foraminifera from mangrove environment of the Abu Dhabi region present a powerful tool for constructing zonation of marine coastline environments and can be employed as a modern analogue for interpreting the depositional environment of ancient coastline sediments.

The development of critical sensibilities in English Language Teaching (ELT) in recent years has seen challenges to assumptions and methodologies in the field, placing an explicit focus on the manifestation of structures and relations of power. The critical stance affords a growing acceptance of English Language Teaching as a complex situated…

Many parents seeking a sound education for their children are looking beyond the narrow boundaries of test scores into the realm of character education. This article explores how parenting approaches can help children live fulfilling lives in the present and also prepare them for future adult roles in personal, social, and professional spheres.…

During the spring of 1995, 1996 and 1997 following tests on six peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) and two gyr falcons (Falco rusticolus), Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from liver, spleen and small intestines. Four of the falcons (two peregrines and two gyrs) had also contracted Chlamydia infection, three peregrines a pox infection and one peregrine a Herpesvirus infection. It is believed that this dual infection was fatal for these birds. The disease was marked by anorexia, dehydration and green-coloured droppings. Necropsy of all falcons revealed discolouration of the liver and enlargement of liver and spleen. Miliary necrosis was detected in all livers. A total of 12 salmonella serovars, including S. typhimurium, were cultured from faeces of 48 falcons which showed no clinical signs.

... certain steel nails having a shaft length up to 12 inches. Certain steel nails include, but are not..., and have a variety of finishes, heads, shanks, point types, shaft lengths and shaft diameters... film tape backed with a heat seal adhesive; and Fasteners having a case hardness greater than or equal...

The rapid development of tourism worldwide is giving rise to many anxieties about the actual as well as potentially negative consequences of tourism on host societies. However, despite such concerns, much of the academic research on tourism remains grounded in economic analysis with far less attention being paid to assessing the socio-cultural impacts of tourism, whether real or perceived. The neglect in this regard is particularly acute when it comes to research on the rapidly expanding tour...

Results: The participants' mean age and standard deviation (Mean ± SD was 19 ± 1.3 years. 31.4% of the participants showed disordered eating attitudes. The percentage of participants engaged in at least one concerning behavior in the past six months was 43.8%. A membership in a health club was significantly related to disordered eating attitudes (p< 0.01. A high level of physical activity was correlated with laxative use, over the counter supplements, and exercising for more than 60 minutes to control weight (p < 0.05. Conclusion: There is a great need for intervention programs and policies to contain the level of abnormal eating attitudes and promote healthy level of physical activity among college students.

A preliminary survey on pesticide uses in 40 vegetable-growing farms representing different agricultural areas in Oman and the UAE, twenty farms from each country, revealed that all the vegetable farms used pesticides for crop protection. Among the major insect-pests, white flies (Bemisia tabaci), leafminers (Liriomyza trifolii), melon fruit flies (Bactrocera ciliatus), aphids (Aphis spp.) and tobacco leafworm (Spodoptera litteralis) were recorded in Omani farms. In the UAE, white flies, leafminers, cutworms (Agrotis ypsilan), tomato fruitworms (Helicoverpa armigera) and eggplant fruitworms (Leucinodes orbonalis) were the 5 top insect-pests. Among the plant diseases, powdery mildew (Erysiphe spp.), blight (Alternaria spp.), damping off (Pythium spp.), leafspot (Alternaria spp.) and mosaic (CMV) Were major cause of vegetable diseases in Omani farms; whereas, damping off (Pythium aphanidermatum), downy mildew (Pseudoperonspora cubensis), early blight (Alternaria solani), septoria leaf spot (Septoria lycopersici) and anthracnose rip rot (colletotrichum spp.) were the most predominant diseases encountered in most UAE farms. Among the most commonly used pesticides, 29 insecticides, 16 fungicides and 3 herbicides were used by the vegetable farmers. Around 55% of Omani farms used routine application of pesticides, irrespective of the pest presence. Whereas, in the UAE, most farmers started to spray pesticides at 6-20% pest (insect, disease and weeds) infection. Over 65 of the farms, in both the countries, received chemical pest management information from the sales representatives. (author)

Full Text Available Huge volume of project information are generated during the life cycle of an AEC projects. These project information are categorized in to technical and administrative information and managed through appropriate processes. There are many tools such as Document Management Systems, Building Information Modeling (BIM available to manage and integrate the technical information. However, the administrative information and its related processes such as the payment, status, authorization, approval etc. are not effectively managed. The current study aims to explore the administrative information management process of a local housing delivery public agency. This agency manages more than 2000 housing projects at any time of a year. The administrative processesare characterized withdelivery inconsistencies among various project participants. Though there are many commercially available process management systems, there exist limitations on the customization of the modules/ systems. Hence there is a need to develop an information management system which can integrates and manage these housing projects processes effectively. This requires the modeling of administrative processes and its interfaces among the various stakeholder processes. Hence this study aims to model the administrative processes and its related information during the life cycle of the project using IDEF0 and IDEF1X modeling. The captured processes and information interfaces are analyzed and appropriate process integration is suggested to avoid the delay in their project delivery processes. Further, the resultant model can be used for effectively managing the housing delivery projects.

The new paradigm to pharmacy profession has changed the focus of pharmacists from product-centered to patient-oriented. This change has brought new set of beliefs and assumptions on the way services should be delivered to pharmacy clients. The main aim of this study was to explore the perception of community pharmacists on their current professional role in Dubai. Key findings show that community pharmacists are more directed toward business than patients. They almost dispense all categories of medicines over-the-counter without the need of prescriptions. However, a new trend of pharmacists in Dubai is to provide enhanced pharmacy services such as consultation to patients upon request.

Full Text Available Parental participation is a key factor in the prevention and management of childhood obesity, thus parental recognition of weight problems is essential. We estimated parental perceptions and their determinants in the Emirati population. We invited 1541 students (grade 1-12; 50% boys and their parents, but only 1440 (6-19 years and their parents consented. Of these, 945 Emirati nationals provided data for analysis. Anthropometric and demographic variables were measured by standard methods. CDC BMI percentile charts for age and sex were used to classify children's weight. Parental perception of their children's weight status (underweight, normal, and overweight/obese was recorded. Logistic regression analyses were used to identify independent predictors of parental perceptions of children's weight status. Of all parents, 33.8% misclassified their children's' weight status; underestimating (27.4% or overestimating (6.3%. Misclassification was highest among parents of overweight/obese children (63.5% and underweight (55.1% children. More importantly, parental perceptions of their children being overweight or obese, among truly overweight/obese children, i.e. correct identification of an overweight/obese child as such, were associated with the true child's BMI percentile (CDC with an OR of 1.313 (95% CI: 1.209-1.425; p<0.001 per percentile point, but not age, parental education, household income, and child's sex. We conclude that the majority of parents of overweight/obese children either overestimated or, more commonly, underestimated children's weight status. Predictors of accurate parental perception, in this population, include the true children's BMI, but not age, household income, and sex. Thus, parents having an incorrect perception of their child's weight status may ignore otherwise appropriate health messages.

The optimal treatment of ureteric stones, especially the lower ureteric stone, remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the management of ureteric stones. A total of 99 patients with ureteric stones at different levels were treated with ESWL from 1994 through 1998 at our hospital. All patients were treated using Siemen Lithostar-II Plus Lithotripter. Of 99 patients, 22 were excluded from the study because they had no follow-up records of their stone-free status. The clearance rates for ureteric stones of the other 79 patients treated were stratified according to the site, size and the number of treatment sessions required per stone. The stone size was determined by the widest diameters. Based on stone size, the patients were divided into two groups: A ( 1 0 mm) and B (11-20 mm). The overall all clearance rate for ureteric stones treated with ESWL, irrespective of its site and size, was 78.5%. The overall clearance rate for size A (

... latex. Tracing and drafting film is also excluded. PET Film is classifiable under subheading 3920.62.00... on the Web at http://ia.ita.doc.gov/frn . The signed Decision Memorandum and the electronic versions...

Full Text Available Conditions and upheavals, by their characteristics, including people opposition with governments and alteration in regional order, have challenged the US strategic interests in the Middle East region and forced the authorities of Washington to manage and strategize upheavals. The type of US encounter with the trend of upheavals, approach of the ruling regime, the future of people movement and available alternative, interests, and security of Israel and contradiction between strategic interests and democratic principles were amongst the most important issues facing the United States. The present article is seeking to find the answer to this question that what sort of relationship does exist between United States policies in the Middle East from one hand and recent upheavals in Arab countries on the other hand? The assumption of the article is that in the past two decades the one sided role of the US in forming the upheavals of Middle East has changed into a bilateral relationship and the behavior of this country in the process of recent upheavals, affected by the presence of the people of Arab countries in internal politics of their own country in numerous cases has changed into a reaction behavior. Finally, it should be said that contrasts between society and government in Arabic Middle East, is considered as one of the prominent challenges of the US in decision-making process and management of region unrests. On the other hand, the lack of a specified instruction and strategy by Americans is another problem of the US in this region.

This paper describes briefly main informations on petroleum production, prices and market trends, trade and contracts, petroleum exploration in Bahrain, Ethiopia, Libya, Tunisia, UnitedArabEmirates and Yemen. In Ivory Coast, a consortium led by Electricite de France and Bouygues has obtained the exploitation of Foxtrot natural gas field. Statistics on petroleum and natural gas reserves, production in the world in 1991 and 1992 are also given.

The Mashreq Arab countries covered in this study are Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the UnitedArabEmirates, and Yemen. A feasibility study for the interconnection of the electrical networks of the Mashreq Arab countries, sponsored by the Arab Fund, was completed in June 1992. Each country is served by one utility except Saudi Arabia, which is served by four major utilities and some smaller utilities serving remote towns and small load centers. The major utilities are the Saudi consolidated electric Company in the Eastern Province (SCECO East), SCECO Center, SCECO West, and SCECO South. These are the ones considered in this study. The Mashreq Arab region has a considerable mix of energy resources. Egypt and Syria have some limited amounts of hydropower resources, and the Arabian Gulf region is abundant in fossil fuel reserves. Owing to the differences in energy production costs, a potential exists for substantial energy trading between electric utilities in the region. The major objective of this project is to study the feasibility of electric energy trading between the Mashreq Arab countries. The basis, assumptions, and methodologies on which this energy trading study is based relate to the results and conclusions arising out of the previous study, power plant characteristics and costs, assumptions on economic parameters, rules for economy energy exchange, etc. This paper presents the basis, methodology, and major findings of the study

Under the IAEA expert's guidance, the seeds of some important field crops were irradiated with gamma rays in order to obtain beneficial mutations, especially with regard to improving the quality of the product and increasing the yield potential in addition to increasing the resistance against disease and lodging and shortening the vegetation period and plant height. The irradiation was done with a cobalt-60 unit. Once the seeds were irradiated, they were examined for the degree of germination attained. About 45 days after irradiation, the seeds were planted at an agricultural experimental field at Inshas. For cytological investigations, i.e. for a study of the radiation effects on cell tissues, the root tips of the seedlings were cut off after the germination test and were examined by a special process. Another type of experiment carried out consisted in soaking small samples of certain seeds in a solution of radioactive phosphorus (phosphorus-32) before planting them. This was intended to obtain beneficial mutations in some of the morphological and physiological characteristics of the plants. Some of the seeds were soaked for 24 hours, others for 48 hours. Later they were washed in distilled water and planted at the Inshas experimental field

Full Text Available Tsunami is among the most devastating natural hazards phenomenon responsible for significant loss of life and property throughout history. The Sultanate of Oman and UnitedArabEmirates are among the Indian Ocean countries that were subjected to one confirmed tsunami in November 27, 1945 due to an Mw 8.1 earthquake in Makran Subduction Zone. In this study, we present preliminary deterministic tsunami hazard assessment for the coasts of Diba Oman and Diba Al-Emirates, which are located on the western coast of the Oman Sea. The tsunami vulnerability of these cities increases due to the construction of many critical infrastructures and urban concentration along their coasts. Therefore, tsunami hazard assessment is necessary to mitigate the risk on the socio-economic system and sustainable developments. The major known source of tsunamis able to impact both coasts of Oman and UnitedArabEmirates is the Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ which extends for approximately 900 km. The deterministic approach uses specific scenarios considering the maximum credible earthquakes occurring in the MSZ and computes the ensuing tsunami impact in the coasts of the study area. The maximum wave height graphs and inundation maps are obtained for tsunami scenarios caused by 8.8 earthquake magnitude in eastern MSZ and 8.2 magnitude from western MSZ. The Mw8.8 eastern MSZ causes a maximum inundation distance of 447 meters and a maximum flow depth of 1.37 meter. Maximum inundation distance larger than 420 meters occurs due to the Mw8.2 western MSZ scenario. For this scenario, numerical simulations show a maximum flow depth of about 2.34 meters.

Mind mapping was introduced as a culturally relevant pedagogy aimed at enhancing the teaching and learning experience in a general education, Environmental Science class for mostly Emirati English Language Learners (ELL). Anecdotal evidence suggests that the students are very artistic and visual and enjoy group-based activities. It was decided to…

Full Text Available Hazzaa M Al-Hazzaa1,2, Abdulrahman O Musaiger3, ATLS Research Group1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Movement Sciences, College of Education, King Saud University, 2Scientific Board, Obesity Research Chair, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Arab Center for Nutrition, Manama, Bahrain, and Nutrition and Health Studies Unit, Deanship of Scientific Research, University of Bahrain, BahrainBackground: There is a lack of comparable data on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, which limits our understanding and interpretation of the relationship between obesity and lifestyle parameters. Therefore, we initiated the Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS. The ATLS is a multicenter collaborative project for assessing lifestyle habits of Arab adolescents. The objectives of the ATLS project were to investigate the prevalence rates for overweight and obesity, physical activity, sedentary activity and dietary habits among Arab adolescents, and to examine the interrelationships between these lifestyle variables. This paper reports on the objectives, design, methodology, and implications of the ATLS.Design/Methods: The ATLS is a school-based cross-sectional study involving 9182 randomly selected secondary-school students (14–19 years from major Arab cities, using a multistage stratified sampling technique. The participating Arab cities included Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al-Khobar (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai (UnitedArabEmirates, Kuwait, Amman (Jordan, Mosel (Iraq, Muscat (Oman, Tunisia (Tunisia and Kenitra (Morocco. Measured variables included anthropometric measurements, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep duration, and dietary habits.Discussion: The ATLS project will provide a unique opportunity to collect and analyze important lifestyle information from Arab adolescents using standardized procedures. This is the first time a collaborative Arab project will

In the eyes of many people in the United States, Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population. Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in the fields from literature to politics to medicine, many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab descent(血统).

This paper is a report of the findings of a study of Gulf Arab women's perspectives of the transition to motherhood. Transition to motherhood is a universal phenomenon in which every culture has its own expectations and varying supports for women moving through this transition. International studies have provided models or categories of maternal responses related to cultural aspects of transition to motherhood. However, no known research has focused on transition to motherhood among Gulf Arab women. In the initial cohort seventeen first time Gulf Arab mothers in the UnitedArabEmirates were interviewed during the following three times: before childbirth, two-four weeks after childbirth, and forty-days after childbirth. A second cohort of seventeen first time new mothers was interviewed after childbirth in Sultanate of Oman. Four patterns were identified as indicators of change as women transitioned into motherhood: 1) Women's personal transition: women changed from feeling of freedom to feeling of dependency to self-confidence. 2) Mother/baby relationships: women changed from fear, anxiety, and uncertainty to feelings of care and confidence. 3) Family influences: women experienced family support to being integrated and feeling respected by family. 4) Cultural/religious beliefs and practices: women felt they were initially observers of culture, to experiencing cultural/religious beliefs and practices. This was followed by accomplishment in childbearing and childrearing practices. As Gulf Arab new mothers made the transition to motherhood, four implications for international nursing practice emerged: 1) patient teaching to help relieve anxiety, fears, and uncertainty, 2) facilitation of mother/baby relationships, 3) family-centered care, and 4) the importance of cultural/religious beliefs and practices to new mothers.

The Arab world, as a whole, now has 8.5 medical doctors per 10,000 population. This average covers a great diversity of national situations; for example 0.6 doctors per 10,000 population in Somalia, and 17.5 doctors per 10,000 population in Qatar. From the viewpoint of medical staffing, the Arab countries can be grouped into four categories: (i) Countries with low medical density: their national staff is scarce, they do not have a long academic tradition, and they have to rely on foreign physicians (Yemen, Djibouti, Somalia, Mauritania). (ii) Countries with acceptable medical density: they have strengthened their medical training system during the last decades, their production of medical graduates is now fairly high, and there is seemingly a threat of oversupply (Algeria, Tunisia, Syria, Iraq). (iii) Countries with relatively high medical density: their medical staffing is below that of developed countries, but their economic possibilities are reduced, which leads to an oversupply; these countries are exporters of medical manpower (Egypt, Jordan). (iv) Countries that import medical manpower although their own medical density is quite high: their medical training is recent or non-existent and their health system relies to a great extent on foreign doctors (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, UnitedArabEmirates, Libya, Kuwait). They are all oil producers. In brief, a shortage and an oversupply of medical doctors coexist in the Arab world, and concerted action is required.

THE 21ST CENTURY: THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE, AND THE TRANSATLANTIC ALLIANCE The burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change...had led Europe and America to drift apart, he argued that the “the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together,” requiring allies...capabilities, including Norway, Belgium, Italy, and Denmark. Qatar , the UnitedArabEmirates, Morocco, Jordan, and Swe- den also played key operational roles

Slovenia India Kuwait Lebanon South Korea Kenya Libya Macedonia Taiwan Kyrgyzstan Morocco Malaysia United Arab Emirates Lesotho Paraguay...level of socioeconomic development, high unemployment for the young and well-educated, high adult illiteracy rates and poor regulatory quality...general, primarily due to its relatively high rate of adult illiteracy (23.1%).”87 This confirms the assertion presented in Section B that education is a

The purpose of this research was to explore and describe early childhood educators' perceptions of academic aspects and social and emotional aspects of inclusion practices. In this comparative international quantitative research an attitudinal demographic survey was distributed to 300 early childhood educators in mandated kindergartens and primary…

Power system interconnection is a well established practice for a variety of technical and economical reasons. Several interconnected networks exist worldwide for a number of factors. Some of these networks cross international boundaries. This presentation discusses the future developments of the power systems of Mashreq Arab Countries (MAC). MAC consists of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UnitedArabEmirates (UAE), and Yemen. Mac power systems are operated by government or semigovernment bodies. Many of these countries have national or regional electric grids but are generally isolated from each other. With the exception of Saudi Arabia power systems, which employ 60 Hz, all other MAC utilities use 50 Hz frequency. Each country is served by one utility, except Saudi Arabia, which is served by four major utilities and some smaller utilities serving remote towns and small load centers. The major utilities are the Saudi Consolidated electric Company in the Eastern Province (SCECO East), SCECO Center, SCECO West, and SCECO South. These are the ones considered in this study. The energy resources in MAC are varied. Countries such as Egypt, Iraq, and Syria have significant hydro resources.The gulf countries and Iraq have abundant fossil fuel, The variation in energy resources as well as the characteristics of the electric load make it essential to look into interconnections beyond the national boundaries. Most of the existing or planned interconnections involve few power systems. A study involving 12 countries and over 20 utilities with different characteristics represents a very large scale undertaking

Compared to the literature available on other ethnic groups in the United States, there is very little information about school experiences of Arab Americans (Nieto, 2003). This study examines the ways that Arab American women reported positioning themselves when faced with difficult situations related to stereotypical images of Arabs and Arab…

There have been numerous studies of the prevalence of postpartum depression and its putative risk factors in Western Europe and North America, but very few studies in developing countries including the Arab world. Ninety-five women admitted to the New Dubai Hospital in Dubai, UnitedArabEmirates, for childbirth were studied. All subjects were assessed in the postpartum period using clinical and socio-cultural instruments: the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) at day 2, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at day 7, and the Present State Examination (PSE) at week 8 +/- 2 and week 30 +/- 2 after delivery. The prevalence rate of psychiatric morbidity was 24.5% by the SRQ, 17.8% by the EPDS, and 15.8% by the PSE. A number of psychosocial factors emerged as putative risk factors for postpartum depression. The prevalence rates of postpartum psychiatric morbidity and its risk factors in this Arab culture are similar to the results obtained in numerous previous studies in industrialised countries. These findings have implications for the early detection and care of women at risk for postpartum depression.

Communications skills curricula and pedagogy for medical students are often exported to non-English speaking settings. It is assumed that after learning communication skills in English, doctors will be able to communicate effectively with patients in their own language. We distributed a questionnaire to third year Emirati students at a medical school within the UnitedArabEmirates. We assessed their confidence in interviewing patients in Arabic after communication skills training in English. Of the 49 students in the sample, 36 subjects (73.5%) completed and returned the questionnaire. Nearly three-quarters (72.2%) of students said they felt confident in taking a history in English, while 27.8% of students expressed confidence in taking a history in Arabic. Half of students anticipated that after their training they would be communicating with their patients primarily in Arabic, and only 8.3% anticipated they would be communicating in English. Communication skills training purely in English can leave Arab medical students ill equipped to communicate with patients in their own communities and tongue.

Worldwide, ISO 14001 certification for organizations has become the norm, but the Arab world accounts for an insignificant portion of all the certified organizations. There is a dearth of research on environmental management systems (EMS) in Arab and emerging countries and in public organizations. The objectives of this research are to: (1) examine the key drivers and challenges related to implementation of ISO 14001 certified EMS in the UnitedArabEmirates, an emerging Arab country and (2) compare and contrast these drivers and challenges between private and public organizations. We adopt an explorative, qualitative methodology, using semi-structured interviews with environmental managers in 11 organizations (6 private and 5 public) from different industrial sectors. Drivers of EMS certification were mostly similar between private and public organizations, with some differences. Compliance with regulations and standards, and increasing environmental performance were the main drivers for ISO 14001 certification in both private and public organizations. Commitment to sustainability was more important for public organizations. Cost reduction, competitors, leadership commitment and customers' demands were shared drivers, but more stressed by private organizations. Local community and employees' pressures were reported by private organizations only. The challenges to ISO 14001 implementation were similar for private and public organizations. They were: a lack of qualified human resources, practical challenges associated with implementation, a lack of regulations, a lack of support from management, and high costs. Our findings have implications for managers, academics, consultants, and policy makers in the UAE and other emerging markets.

Racial variations are reported in the natural history of hypertension. For example, hypertension is significantly more prevalent in blacks than whites. Endothelial cells are important regulators of vascular tone and homeostasis, in part through secretions of vasoactive substances including endothelin-1 (ET-1), a small peptide with potent vasopressor actions. In black hypertensives, ET-1 levels are higher than in normotensive blacks and in both hypertensive and normotensive whites. Since ET-1 might play a significant role in the development and severity of hypertension in the indigenous Arab population of the UnitedArabEmirates, we investigated the circulating levels of ET-1 in this homogenous population. ET-1 levels were measured in plasma samples from 60 untreated hypertensive Arabs and compared with 60 age- and sex-matched normotensive controls. ET-1 levels were significantly higher in hypertensives (mean 10.1 +/- 1 pmol/L) than normotensives (mean 2.2 +/- 0.5 pmol/L). Body mass index (BMI) was slightly higher among the hypertensives. For all subjects these levels significantly (P Arabs as compared with reported levels in white hypertensives and ET-1 could be a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in this population. The endothelial system might be particularly important with respect to hypertension in this racial group and merits further study.

Conclusion: Patients with dyspeptic symptoms and a history of previous PUD should be considered for prophylactic treatment to prevent ulcer recurrence during prolonged daytime fasting in Ramadan, especially during the winter time.

This study investigated ESL teachers' perceptions regarding the use of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in teaching reading to children. A random sample of 145 teachers participated in the study by completing a survey developed by the researchers. To explore the situation in depth, 16 teachers were later interviewed. Results indicated…

With the ever increasing online community and opportunities, digital marketing is fast becoming the mainstream in the field of marketing. At the same time marketers have to be up-to-date with the current digital trends in order to be able to improve themselves and make valuable contributions to their organisations. The significance of digital marketing thus should make any thoughtful organisation want to plan for, perform, evaluate and improve its digital marketing endeavours where necessary,...

A significant number of individuals all over the world experience various types of developmental disabilities. Families of these individuals are likely to be impacted by these disabilities in different ways. This research examines the UAE parents' adaptation and stress to the developmental disabilities that their children have as well as examines…

The mobility of African students beyond national territories has become common worldwide. However, the underlying reasons motivating students to leave their countries of origin in pursuit of higher education in other developing nations and why these factors are important have not been fully explored. This study attempts to explore why and how…

Student-centered learning has been conceived as a Western export to the East and the developing world in the last few decades. Philosophers of education often associate student-centered learning with frameworks related to meeting the needs of individual pupils: from Deweyan experiential learning, to the "pedagogy of the oppressed" and…

This article identifies a research gap on expatriate students attending international branch campuses in their country of residence, and presents evidence that they are insufficiently distinguished from international students in research on student mobility and choice-making. It finds that the priorities and enrollment choices of expatriates are…

This exploratory study seeks to examine how the use of student-written blogs support student learning through the student perspective. The blogs were introduced to provide support in four distinct areas: as a medium for facilitating learning; as a medium for interactivity; as a medium for metacognitive thought and reflection; and as a learning…

Full Text Available The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to examine the effects of reflective journals on students' learning, how they foster students' growth mindset, and the students' own perceptions of the journaling process. To this end, 15 students enrolled in an introduction to nutrition course participated in writing reflective journals about their eating habits with respect to the course content. This research used a qualitative instrumental case study design and the required data were collected from students' journals and focus group interviews. A content analysis approach was employed to examine the journals and this indicated that reflective writing improves learners' conceptual understanding of the course, promotes growth mindset, and helps shed light on the students' inner thoughts. The finding of this study revealed that reflective journal writing has a significant impact on EFL learners' understanding of concepts and on fostering growth mindset.

Cardiovascular risk factors are prevalent among relatively young adult, clinically stable outpatients attending clinics across the UAE. These findings support targeted screening of outpatients visiting a general practitioner, which may provide opportunity for early discovery and ongoing management of risk factors, including recommending lifestyle changes. The ACE trial is registered under NCT01243138.

Full Text Available The Hajar Mountains of south-eastern Arabia form an isolated massif surrounded by the sea to the east and by a large desert to the west. As a result of their old geological origin, geographical isolation, complex topography and local climate, these mountains provide an important refuge for endemic and relict species of plants and animals. With 19 species restricted to the Hajar Mountains, reptiles are the vertebrate group with the highest level of endemicity, becoming an excellent model for understanding the patterns and processes that generate and shape diversity in this arid mountain range. The geckos of the Ptyodactylus hasselquistii species complex are the largest geckos in Arabia and are found widely distributed across the Arabian Mountains, constituting a very important component of the reptile mountain fauna. Preliminary analyses suggested that their diversity in the Hajar Mountains may be higher than expected and that their systematics should be revised. In order to tackle these questions, we inferred a nearly complete calibrated phylogeny of the genus Ptyodactylus to identify the origin of the Hajar Mountains lineages using information from two mitochondrial and four nuclear genes. Genetic variability within the Hajar Mountains was further investigated using 68 specimens of Ptyodactylus from 46 localities distributed across the entire mountain range and sequenced for the same genes as above. The molecular phylogenies and morphological analyses as well as niche comparisons indicate the presence of two very old sister cryptic species living in allopatry: one restricted to the extreme northern Hajar Mountains and described as a new species herein; the other distributed across the rest of the Hajar Mountains that can be confidently assigned to the species P. orlovi. Similar to recent findings in the geckos of the genus Asaccus, the results of the present study uncover more hidden diversity in the northern Hajar Mountains and stress once again the importance of this unique mountain range as a hot spot of biodiversity and a priority focal point for reptile conservation in Arabia.

Several medical schools around the world are moving away from isolated, locally developed in-house assessments to the introduction of external examinations into their curriculum. Although the objective varies, it is typically done to evaluate, audit, and compare students' performance to international standards. Similarly, the International Foundations of Medicine-Clinical Sciences Examination (IFOM-CSE) was introduced in the College of Medicine at the University of Sharjah as an external assessment criterion in addition to the existing in-house assessments. The aim of this study was to compare the student performance in this newly introduced IFOM-CSE examination and the existing in-house final examination in the college. The scores of three consecutive final-year undergraduate medical student batches (2013-2015) who took both the IFOM-CSE and the existing in-house final examination were analyzed. Pearson correlation and one-way analysis of variance test were conducted using SPSS 22. The students' scores in the IFOM-CSE and in the final examination prepared locally were highly correlated with Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.787 for batch 2013, 0.827 for batch 2014, and 0.830 for batch 2015 (P correlated with their scores in the IFOM-CSE over all the three batches. Thus, introduction of external examination can be an important evaluation tool to a comprehensive internal assessment system providing evidence of external validity.

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) will launch in 2020 to explore the dynamics in the atmosphere of Mars on a global scale. EMM has three scientific instruments to an improved understanding of circulation and weather in the Martian lower and middle atmosphere. Two of the EMM's instruments, which are the Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI) and Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer (EMIRS) will focus on the lower atmosphere observing dust, ice clouds, water vapor and ozone. On the other hand, the third instrument Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS) will focus on both the thermosphere of the planet and its exosphere. The EMIRS instrument, shown in Figure 1, is an interferometric thermal infrared spectrometer that is jointly developed by Arizona State University (ASU) and Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC). It builds on a long heritage of thermal infrared spectrometers designed, built, and managed, by ASU's Mars Space Flight Facility, including the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-TES), and the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES). EMIRS operates in the 6-40+ µm range with 5 cm-1 spectral sampling, enabled by a Chemical Vapor-Deposited (CVD) diamond beamsplitter and state of the art electronics. This instrument utilizes a 3×3 detector array and a scan mirror to make high-precision infrared radiance measurements over most of a Martian hemisphere. The EMIRS instrument is optimized to capture the integrated, lower-middle atmosphere dynamics over a Martian hemisphere and will capture 60 global images per week ( 20 images per orbit) at a resolution of 100-300 km/pixel. After processing through an atmospheric retrieval algorithm, EMIRS will determine the vertical temperature profiles to 50km altitude and measure the column integrated global distribution and abundances of key atmospheric parameters (e.g. dust, water ice (clouds) and water vapor) over the Martian day, seasons and year.

The text of the Agreement between the Agency and the Government of the UnitedArab Republic in connection with the Agency's assistance to that Government in establishing a project for training and medical applications of atomic energy is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members.

The text of the Agreement between the Agency and the Government of the UnitedArab Republic in connection with the Agency's assistance to that Government in establishing a project for training and medical applications of atomic energy is reproduced in this document for the information of all Members

Full Text Available Abstract Background Benign neutropenia, i.e., neutropenia not associated with an increased risk of infection, may result in serious medical consequences when a 'standard' definition of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count (ANC 9cells/L is universally applied to all races. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of benign neutropenia among healthy Arabs and evaluate its mode of inheritance. Methods ANCs were studied prospectively amongst a healthy indigenous population (n = 1032 from the UnitedArabEmirates undergoing a nation-wide sickle-cell and thalassemia screening program. The mean neutrophil count and the prevalence of benign neutropenia were compared by age, sex and amongst various tribes. Results The mean neutrophil count (× 109cells/L was 3.3 (range 0.95–7.6. Benign neutropenia was present in 110 (10.7% subjects of whom 24 (2.3% individuals had moderate neutropenia (ANC 0.5 – 1.0 × 109 cells/L. In the 22 tribe-family groups, the prevalence of benign neutropenia varied between 0% and 38%. Benign neutropenia showed no difference in the frequency amongst the sexes (p = 0.23 and it was independent of age (Spearman's rho = 0.05, p = 0.13. The age-related mean neutrophil count was the lowest in Arabs when compared with other ethnic groups (Blacks, Europeans and Mexicans. The inheritance of benign neutropenia was consistent with an autosomal dominant pattern; however, the diversity of observed phenotypes suggested the presence of more than one genetic variant for this trait. Conclusion Arabs have a high prevalence of benign neutropenia that may be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with about 500,000 new cases and 270,000 deaths each year. Globally, it is estimated that over one million women currently have cervical cancer, most of whom have not been diagnosed, or have no access to treatment that could cure them or prolong their lives. In the UnitedArabEmirates (UAE) cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women. A population-based cross-sectional retrospective survey of cervical smear abnormalities was conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, from January 2013 to December 2013 by collecting consecutive liquid-based cytology samples from the Department of Pathology at the SKMC Hospital in Abu Dhabi city. The total number of women screened for cervical cancer for the year 2013 at SKMC was 4,593, with 225 (4.89%) abnormal smears. The majority of the abnormal smear results were atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) 114 (2.48%). This study showed 60% increase in the rate of abnormal cervical smears in the UAE over the last 10 years. In this study the highest incidence of high grade abnormalities were seen in women above the age of 61 years (1.73%), this might be due to the fact that this group of women missed the chance of screening of cervical cancer earlier in their lives or could be explained by the well-known second peak of HPV infection seen in many prevalence studies. We conclude that the rate of abnormal cervical smear in the screened Abu Dhabi women is not different from the rate in developed countries. A notable increase in both low and high grade abnormalities has occurred within the last decade.

Full Text Available Objective. To highlight the perceived personal, social, and environmental barriers to healthy eating and physical activity among Arab adolescents. Method. A multistage stratified sampling method was used to select 4698 students aged 15–18 years (2240 males and 2458 females from public schools. Seven Arab counties were included in the study, namely, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and the UnitedArabEmirates. Self-reported questionnaire was used to list the barriers to healthy eating and physical activity facing these adolescents. Results. It was found that lack of information on healthy eating, lack of motivation to eat a healthy diet, and not having time to prepare or eat healthy food were the main barriers to healthy eating among both genders. For physical activity, the main barriers selected were lack of motivation to do physical activity, less support from teachers, and lack of time to do physical activity. In general, females faced more barriers to physical activity than males in all countries included. There were significant differences between males and females within each country and among countries for most barriers. Conclusion. Intervention programmes to combat obesity and other chronic noncommunicable diseases in the Arab world should include solutions to overcome the barriers to weight maintenance, particularly the sociocultural barriers to practising physical activity.

Full Text Available Objective. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents in seven Arab countries using similar reference standard. Methods. A school-based cross-sectional study was carried out in seven cities in Arab countries, namely, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and UnitedArabEmirates. A multistage stratified random sampling technique was used. The total sample included was 4698 adolescents aged from 15 to 18 years (2240 males, 2458 females. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF reference standard was used to classify the adolescents as nonobese, overweight, and obese. Results. Among males, overweight was highest among Kuwaiti adolescents (25.6%, followed by Jordanian (21.6%, and Syrian (19.7% adolescents. Among females, the highest prevalence of overweight was reported in Libyan adolescents (26.6%, followed by Kuwaiti (20.8%, and Syrian (19.7% adolescents. As for obesity, Kuwaiti adolescents showed the highest prevalence of obesity for both males (34.8% and females (20.6%. Conclusion. There is an urgent need to establish a plan of action to combat obesity in schoolchildren in these countries.